Mount Vernon Nazarene University is pleased to announce that Jason Foster has been hired to become the sixth head coach of the women's basketball team and a professor in the Physical Education Department.

"Jason Foster is going to be a great addition to the women's basketball team at MVNU," said Dr. Lanette Sessink, MVNU's vice president for Student Development. "I look forward to working together with him. After numerous conversations with Jason, he not only has a passion for the basketball student-athletes, but he has a passion in seeing the students succeed during their tenure on campus. I am pleased that the right doors have opened up to allow Jason and his family to be a part of the MVNU community."

Foster comes to MVNU after four seasons as the head coach at Bethany University, an NAIA Division II school in Santa Cruz, Calif. where he also taught course in Sports Management and Physical Education. Prior to that, he spent two seasons as the assistant women's basketball coach at William Jessup (Calif.) University and two other seasons as the assistant women's basketball coach at Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) University. In between the two stops, he also had four years of coaching experience as an assistant at the high school level.

Foster earned his bachelor of arts degree in Physical Education from Point Loma Nazarene and his master of arts in sports sciences degree in Pedagogy from the University of the Pacific (Calif.) where he also served as a graduate assistant. Foster and his wife, Bonnie, have three sons - Brodie (5), Chase (3), and Seth (1 in October).

"I am very excited about joining the Mount Vernon Nazarene University community," said Foster. "I look forward to working alongside both faculty and staff, on the court and in the classroom. I feel that I am inheriting a good program with a strong tradition, and I am eager to join and continue that tradition."

"We are pleased to add Jason to our faculty and the athletic department," said Paul Swanson, MVNU's athletic director. "He is a high quality and high character person who will fit great at MVNU. His background and professional preparation make him ready to make a positive impact on day one."

Foster will take over a program that is in the midst of a successful run that includes three straight 20-win seasons for the first time and an 87-40 overall mark for the past four years (.685 winning percentage). The Lady Cougars went 21-9 in 2010-2011, finished No. 24 in the final NAIA Division II poll, and earned the program's first-ever trip to the NAIA Division II National Tournament. MVNU also captured the National Christian College Athletic Association national title in 2001 and 2009.

To contact Coach Foster, you can e-mail him at jfoster4@mvnu.edu.