NEW ORLEANS (May 20, 2025) – Shan Foster, who starred in basketball at Alfred Bonnabel High School and at Vanderbilt University, has been selected for induction into the Allstate Sugar Bowl's New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2025.
 
A four-year starter at Bonnabel High School, Foster was named First Team All-State as a senior after averaging 23.4 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks per game. He was a four-year starter at Vanderbilt and is the school's all-time leader in points (2,011) and three-pointers (367). In 2008, the All-American was named SEC Player of the Year. On Senior Day, Foster hit nine consecutive 3-pointers as he scored 42 points, including the game-winning basket, in a thrilling 86-85 victory over No. 25 Mississippi State. He was the winner of the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award for student-athletes who make a positive impact on their communities through their platforms in athletics. He was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks and played overseas before retiring from the game in 2013. FULL FEATURE STORY BELOW.
 
Foster is one of four standout local sports figures who will be added to the Hall of Fame this year. Each year's Hall of Fame class is selected by the New Orleans Sports Awards Committee, a group of current and former media members who annually recognize a variety of annual award-winners, as well as the Hall of Fame, the Corbett Awards and the Eddie Robinson Award. The group also selects the Sugar Bowl Athlete of the Month each month.
 
The Hall of Famers will be recognized as part of the Allstate Sugar Bowl Sports Awards Banquet, presented by LCMC Health, to be held on Saturday, August 2, in New Orleans.
 
Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2025:
Shan Foster, Basketball, Bonnabel HS/Vanderbilt/NBA, 2001-13
Temeka Johnson, Basketball, Bonnabel HS/LSU/WNBA, 1997-2018
Joe McKnight, Football, John Curtis Christian School/USC/NFL, 2004-16
Andy Russo, Basketball, Fortier HS/USL/Brother Martin HS, 1956-78
 
The finalists for the full-range of annual awards will be announced in June with the winners of those honors to be released in July.
 
The New Orleans Sports Awards Committee came together when James Collins spearheaded a group of sports journalists to form a sports awards committee to immortalize local sports history. For 13 years, the committee honored local athletes each month and a variety of annual award winners. In 1970, the Sugar Bowl stepped in to sponsor and revitalize the committee, leading to the creation of the New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame in 1971, honoring 10 legends from the Crescent City in its first induction class. While adding the responsibility of selecting Hall of Famers, the committee has continued to recognize the top athlete in the Greater New Orleans area each month as well as a range of annual awards – the honors enter their 69th year in 2025.
 
The Allstate Sugar Bowl has established itself as one of the premier college football bowl games, having hosted 29 national champions, 110 Hall of Fame players, 55 Hall of Fame coaches and 21 Heisman Trophy winners in its 91-year history. The 92nd Allstate Sugar Bowl Football Classic, which will double as a College Football Playoff Quarterfinal, is scheduled to be played on January 1, 2026. In addition to football, the Sugar Bowl Committee annually invests over $1 million into the community through the hosting and sponsorship of sporting events, awards, scholarships and clinics. Through these efforts, the organization supports and honors thousands of student-athletes each year, while injecting over $2.5 billion into the local economy in the last decade. For more information, visit www.AllstateSugarBowl.org.
 

Shan Foster
New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame, Class of 2025

They say that it takes a village to raise a child to be a productive and successful adult. Children raised by strong villages often continue the cycle by becoming integral leaders of villages themselves. And those leaders not only affect future children but everybody around them. 
 
Shan Foster had a village. And his awareness and intelligence allowed him to take full advantage of the lessons learned to become an individual who is a leader and a driving force in making the world a better place.
 
"It takes a village, and I was so fortunate to have a huge one," Foster said. "My grandparents, they raised me [for the first six years of my life], my grandfather is 94 years old, he taught me the value of hard work, how to be a man, how to worship and lean on my faith.
 
"My mom [Anita], being a single parent, working two jobs and going to school, trying to provide opportunities for us; I get my work ethic from her as well.
 
"My dad [John] played basketball at Southern Miss, was always in my life, helped me so much with the game of basketball and making sure I was the right kind of person, as well as right kind of player. 
 
"My Aunt Tracye and Aunt Tamara – they were like my big sisters; we're very, very close. I was one of the best dressed players in college, because my aunt Tamara owned a high-end clothing store."
 
And he learned basketball. He played AAU basketball for Dannton Jackson, the coach at Xavier University, and he joined pick-up games with college players at Xavier and Tulane.
 
The 6-6, 195-pounder was a four-year starter and a three-time captain at Bonnabel High School for Coach Glenn Dyer. He was named First Team All-State, the Metro Most Valuable Player, and all-district. As a senior he averaged 23.4 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks per game as he led the Bruins to the district championship in 2004.
 
After being recruited by schools around the country, he chose to play at Vanderbilt University under coach Kevin Stallings. As his collegiate career began, he expanded his village to Nashville, learning the college game during summer pickup games with older players.
 
As a freshman at Vanderbilt (2004-05), he was selected to the SEC's All-Rookie Team after averaging 9.2 points per game and burying 44.5 percent of his three-point attempts. Then in 2005-06, his numbers jumped to 15.9 points per game as he earned First-Team All-SEC recognition. The team reached the NIT both years.
 
He also forged another outstanding friendship with classmate Alex "Red" Gordon, who was at his side for all four years of his Vanderbilt career.
 
Despite the early personal success, it wasn't enough for Foster. His goal was to help get the Commodores to the NCAA Tournament and to show they could compete with the best. He and some teammates approached Stallings about changing the atmosphere and culture of the program.
 
"As we evaluated and were critical of ourselves, we realized quickly, a part of our downfall was that everybody didn't have the same excitement about working hard, about coming to work every day and being the best," Foster remembered. "It was about challenging everyone, players and coaches. We created a better environment for not only athletes, but for Coach Stallings and the coaching staff. I felt like it would cause us to work harder, work better, and ultimately, it would show up in the win column." The Commodores went 22-12 in 2006-07 and 26-8 in 2007-08, making the NCAA Tournament both years.
 
"We had a completely different attitude; the whole team came together to make each day the best day possible. Ultimately, we had a lot of great days together."
 
The highlight of that stretch is a day that every Vanderbilt fan will remember for the rest of their lives – Foster's Senior Day on March 5, 2008.
 
Senior Day is always hoped to be a celebration; for Foster, it started as a nightmare. With 10:57 to go in the game against Mississippi State, an NCAA Tournament bound team, the Commodores trailed by three. And Foster had six points while shooting 0-for-6 from three.
 
Stallings said in a timeout, "Shan, if you don't start making shots, we aren't going to win this game."
 
Foster took the criticism and looked at his teammates and said, "Fellas, I'm going to start making shots. I swear I am."
 
For the final 15:57 (including overtime), Foster hit nine straight three-pointers. He drained two in the final 26 seconds of regulation, then knocked down the game-winner with 2.7 seconds to go in the memorable 86-85 win. Vanderbilt was either losing or the score was tied at the time he made each of his nine threes. He finished with a career-best 42 points in the game.
 
"I've said many times, it's the best single-game performance that I witnessed in my 24 years in the SEC," said Rick Stansbury, the Mississippi State head coach at the time. "There is no question. Including all of those great players who went through Kentucky, and we had some good ones (at Mississippi State), but none of them was equal to what Shan Foster did that night in Nashville. We got beat by one of the greatest individual performances in the history of the SEC." 
 
Foster learned a valuable lesson from that game. 
 
"If you remain faithful, dig a little deeper, don't give up, be persistent, and try to overcome, sometimes you can overcome," he said. "That sums up my life, there were some times early on that were very difficult and hard. I found out that it's in those moments when you truly build character, resilience, you learn who your real friends are, who's really in your corner, and you're able to learn how much is actually inside of you."
 
Foster had other huge games in his career – he scored 32 points as the Commodores knocked off archrival Tennessee, who was ranked No. 1 at the time. And as a junior, he scored 24 points to key an upset of No. 1 Florida – the eventual national champions.
 
He graduated as Vanderbilt's all-time leading scorer with 2,011 points and the school's all-time leader with 367 three-pointers. As a senior, he was named SEC Player of the Year by a poll of coaches and by the Associated Press as well as an AP All-American and a Rivals.com First-Team All-American.
 
He also was presented with the Lowe's Senior CLASS (Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School) Award at the 2008 Final Four. The award goes to nation's outstanding senior athlete (from 10 NCAA Division I sports) displays great class, leadership, academic excellence, and service to the community.
 
Next on the agenda for Foster was the NBA. He was selected by the Dallas Mavericks in the second round. But then he realized something else about himself.
 
"I realized, my dream was to get drafted by the NBA, not to have a long NBA career," Foster said. "The purpose for my life was much bigger than basketball. It was about making a difference in other people's lives." 
 
He played multiple years in the NBA Summer League and played overseas in Italy, Belgium, and Turkey. However, he chose to retire from the sport in 2013.
 
"I truly believe that basketball was the vehicle to carry me to what I do now," he said.
 
Foster, who has done extensive work to end violence against women and girls as well as with mentoring young people, is the Director of Community Engagement at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He's also the Co-Founder of Fostering Healthy Solutions, LLC, an organization that cultivates healthy solutions to diversity issues through education, training, and execution.
 
"I've been able to transition in such a way that when I'm in the airport, people come up to me and say thank you for what you've done to end domestic violence, thank you for what you've done for education, thank you for your leadership, thank you for investing in my town, that's what's most important," he said. "They remember the jump shots, the threes, the wins, but what folks are most proud of, what matters the most in the world I've done after basketball."