Armoni Foster: From shy kid to professional basketball player

May 25, 2024

Aug. 31—Meadville has seen plenty of stars on the hardwood over the past 80 years, but Armoni Foster might shine the brightest.

Foster, a 2017 Meadville Area Senior High School graduate, recently signed a contract to play professional basketball with BC Cherkaski Mavpy in the Ukrainian SuperLeague for the 2023-24 season.

The all-time leading scorer for the Bulldogs (1,776 points) leapfrogged local legends like Mike Burnett, Biff Kress, Chris Buchanan and Lloyd Sharrar on the scoring list during his prolific four seasons at the House of Thrills. Sharrar got the closest to professional basketball. He was drafted by the NBA's Philadelphia Warriors in the second round of the 1958 draft, but opted to play in an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) league, which then worked closely with the Olympic program.

In short, Foster is the first player to represent Meadville on a professional stage, let alone an international one.

Before Foster accumulated accolades at Meadville, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, the University of Buffalo or boarded a plane bound for Poland, he was learning to love the game with his childhood friends.

The early days

Foster's first basketball memories date back to elementary school. When he was about 5, his mother, Tammy Foster, signed him up for a basketball camp.

The future 6-foot 4-inch point guard wasn't commanding an offense from the start. In fact, he was so shy it was a struggle to get on the court.

"He kept coming back crying and I had to tell him to go back out there and keep dribbling the ball. He is such a momma's boy that he just did not want to do it," Tammy Foster said. "I said 'Nope, we signed up for this, you have to do it.' After a couple Saturdays of talks and nudges he saw I wasn't giving in and he was going to do it so he got used to it."

Foster played competitive basketball first in fourth grade. The following summer, Tammy Foster created an AAU team so her son could play locally.

The AAU team also functioned as her older son's (Artrel) senior project. Artrel and his friend, Samer Newsome, assisted Tammy Foster and called the team ASB Ballers, which stood for Artrel and Samer Basketball Ballers. Tammy Foster recruited players, ordered uniforms, found tournaments to play in and recruited Paul Gregor to coach the group of fifth-graders.

"Everybody on the team was my childhood friends. We basically put together a team of everybody I went to school with," Foster said. "That's when I met Jack Stevens and was introduced to the Stevens family and they've been such a big part of my life since then. Jack was on the team, my cousin Rashard Willis, Jayson Rhoades, Simeal Wofford, Jordan Powell and Jason Clune."

The ASB Ballers did not fare well in its first season. The team didn't win any tournaments, but Foster said the team created a bond that summer. They stayed in hotels together, played tag and had a lot of fun. That bond grew tighter as the years went on.

For coach Gregor

During Foster's sixth-grade AAU season, coach Gregor shared some news with his team after a practice.

"He sat us down in the middle of the court and told us he'd been diagnosed with cancer and he would be all right, but he needed to do treatment and would still coach us. He'd stay distant from us with a mask because of his weak immune system, but he would still be around and at every tournament," Foster said. "He went to every tournament with us while getting chemotherapy and all that. He built a relationship with all of us and showed us he was more than a coach."

The team won several tournaments that season and improved from year one. They even qualified for the national tournament in Cleveland.

The following season, the ASB Ballers were winning tournament after tournament and qualified for the national competition when the team received news that Gregor passed away.

"He passed away on May 22 and it took everybody by surprise. You could never tell anything was wrong with him by the way he carried himself," Foster said. "He had a smile on his face for us and was so strong throughout the whole process."

Gregor's family, wife, Tracy, sons Josh and Jake, and daughter, Bailee, helped the team during practice and at tournaments. The ASB Ballers continued to find success and won the national tournament that summer. It was an emotional and perfect ending for the ASB Ballers.

"I found myself crying playing basketball because I worked so hard for something and it actually paid off," Foster said. "It was a huge accomplishment for us. That's how I started playing basketball and fell in love with the game."

Good is not good enough

As a high school freshman, Foster found himself playing on Meadville's varsity team. He scored 105 points and was fifth on the team in scoring. As a sophomore, he led the team in points with 432. After his sophomore season, he wanted to take his game to another level.

At the time, Artrel Foster was a Division I defensive back at Temple University. With both Foster brothers home for the summer, they went to work.

"He pushed himself that much harder because his brother worked so hard and he told Armoni, 'You are lazy and you need to pick it up.' Whenever his brother was around, he would work harder," Tammy Foster said. "He was already working hard, but his brother always told him, 'Good is not good enough. Every day you can get better at something.'"

Beyond instilling a hard work ethic, Artrel was a positive role model for his younger brother. It's something Armoni is immensely grateful for.

"My brother showed me how to work. Having a positive role model for a brother is one of the best things anybody could ask for," Foster said. "I got to see what it was like to work so hard in pursuit of something. Seeing that gave me the ultimate motivation to know it was possible to be from Meadville and get a D-I scholarship."

Making Bulldogs history

In Foster's junior season, he exploded for 558 points and led the Bulldogs to a District 10 championship berth. He also earned his first Division I scholarship offer to Canisius University.

"It made me realize that all the hard work, the sacrifices in the gym to better myself, it all paid off," Foster said.

Foster had a stellar three years, but it was his senior season and the 2016-17 Meadville Bulldogs that cemented Foster's legacy.

Wofford transferred back to Meadville from Strong Vincent, where he played for three years, and all of a sudden everybody from the AAU team back in fifth grade was on the Bulldogs roster, in addition to Journey Brown and Lashon Lindsey.

The team lost two games all season. One regular season game, in which Foster did not play, and the state championship to Archbishop Wood.

"That year we were on a mission. The whole thing was a blur to me because I was so focused," Foster said. "We won that whole year and actually made it to the state championship. It was actually crazy."

Foster scored 681 points and cemented his legacy by becoming the all-time leading scorer.

"Day one, I knew he was special. He had a very intense work ethic and was a fierce competitor," Meadville head coach Mark McElhinney said. "He was not going to be outworked by anybody, ever, and he just loves the game. Obviously those are great attributes and that's why he is where he is today."

Soon after completing one of the best high school basketball seasons in Crawford County history, as well as being named to the all-state team, Foster committed to Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

More hard work

IUP consistently has a highly ranked basketball team and Foster was excited to get started. The initial plan was for him to redshirt his freshman season, but head coach Joe Lombardi made a last-minute change.

Three days before the season-opener, Lombardi handed Foster the playbook and told him to get ready. The day before the game, Foster suffered a shoulder injury that required season-ending surgery. It was a blessing in disguise, Foster said.

After rehabbing, Foster and his brother hit the gym in the summer — again.

"My brother would wake me up at 5 a.m. and we would lift then go to the field and do more work. By the time I was back to school I was 175 pounds," Foster said. "I gained 25 pounds in one summer. I was eating chicken and rice three times a day. I was eating to the point where I felt like throwing up. It got my body ready for the physicality of college basketball."

In addition to getting stronger, Foster routinely worked with childhood friend Stevens on his skills. Stevens is currently an assistant coach at Wooster College and a basketball skills trainer. He's worked with about 35 Division I players and 20 professionals, and it all started with Foster.

"It (basketball training) all really started with him. I've been working with him since I started doing this stuff," Stevens said. "Even when it was just me and him as seniors in high school."

"Artrel showed me it was possible and Jack showed me how to work on the game of basketball," Foster said.

Collegiate stardom

Foster averaged about 7 points a game during his redshirt freshman season in 2018-19. The following year, Foster blew up as a first-year starter.

The sophomore point guard was an all-conference selection, earned several conference player of the week honors and averaged 19.8 points per game with 56 steals. The 2020-21 season was canceled due to COVID-19.

In 2021-22, Foster had his best season yet. He led the team in scoring with 17.8 points per game and averaged 6.5 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 1.5 steals. The Crimson Hawks made the Division II Final Four and had one of the best finishes in program history. Foster was an All-American and a finalist for the National Association of Basketball Coaches Player of the Year award.

Following the season, Foster entered the transfer portal to fulfill his dreams of playing Division I basketball.

"Ultimately, I always dreamed of playing D-I. I would dream of seeing myself play on the television," Foster said. "I felt like at IUP I capitalized on everything I could do. I probably could have broken the scoring record if I went back, but I think with what I accomplished I will be remembered anyways and I am thankful for that."

Foster transferred to the University of Buffalo for his final season. He played in 31 games for the Bulls and started 30. Foster averaged 8.4 points per game, 3.9 assists and 1.8 rebounds. He said the biggest difference between Division I and Division II basketball is the size of the big men and depth of talent.

"D-II basketball is very talented and very skilled. There are two or three really good players on teams while on D-1 teams everyone is good, all the starters and everyone on the bench," Foster said. "In D-II, the big men are like 6 feet 9 inches, but in D-I they're 7-footers."

Post-college career

After the conclusion of the college basketball season in the spring, Foster began to train for his next opportunity. He quickly signed with an agent and has been splitting time between home with family and Cleveland with Stevens.

"I've been staying in Cleveland with Jack for a few weeks at a time. That's what our relationship is like, I call him my brother now," Foster said. "I've been staying in the best shape I can. Jack has the ultimate confidence in me and that helps so much."

Foster had calls from a team in Luxembourg and a team in Macedonia, but nothing came of it. It wasn't until Aug. 22 he had a call from BC Cherkaski Mavpy. He went from talking to the coach and to signing a contract on a Tuesday to joining his team in Ukraine on Aug. 30.

"It's so surreal I am actually a basketball player and I will get paid to play basketball. It's a crazy feeling and it almost doesn't feel real," Foster said. "It will probably hit me after a 10-hour plane ride to Poland and then a bus ride into Ukraine to start practicing. That's when it will hit me.

"I want to be a positive role model for younger kids because I know how blessed I was to have a role model, my brother, knowing it can be done coming from Meadville, Pa.," Foster added. "I am blessed to be a positive role model for my nephew, my nieces and anyone else looking up to me on my journey."

Foster might be the first Meadville native to play professional basketball, but his accomplishment was no surprise to those who have seen him play.

"Armoni was always the best player and dominated from fifth grade through high school. I don't think you realize what professional basketball really is when you're a kid," Stevens said. "You think about LeBron and stuff, but if anyone was going to be a professional basketball player in Meadville, it was going to be Armoni."

"I am super excited for him and so proud of him. He's represented the Meadville community, IUP and Buffalo," McElhinney said. "His tremendous work ethic and desire, he is finally getting to reap the benefits of it."

Foster's next goal is to make a career of professional basketball. He wants to turn one year into two, two into three and so on. Wherever he ends up, he represents his family, Meadville and everyone whose helped him on his journey.

Alex Topor can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at [email protected].