Xavier Foster of Oskaloosa chooses Iowa State over Iowa

OSKALOOSA — Seven-foot, 225-pound, four-star basketball recruit Xavier Foster of Oskaloosa gave a verbal commitment to the Iowa State men's basketball program Monday morning and will join the Cyclones next season.

Despite a two-hour delay at Oskaloosa for the start of school because of inclement weather, Foster still held a 9 a.m. press conference there to announce he had chosen Iowa State over Iowa. He had narrowed his finalists to those two after recently eliminating Providence and Virginia Tech.

Foster averaged 14.4 points, 11.8 rebounds and 6.2 blocked shots as a junior for the Oskaloosa Indians' Class 3A state-championship team last season.

'The relationships that I had with the players, the relationships I had built up there,' Foster said when asked why he selected Iowa State in an interview with Indians Network. 'And, play style, really. I just felt like it was a good fit for me.'

Iowa and Iowa State had both recruited Foster for three years. The Hawkeyes were the first program to offer a scholarship, in September 2016. Iowa State followed weeks later, and schools from across the country got interested in him shortly after.

Foster is viewed as a rim protector who can run. He has been comfortable shooting 3-pointers in high school.

'Xay's going to be good no matter where he's at for the simple reason he changes shots at the rim,' said Oskaloosa Coach Ryan Parker. 'He'll do that at every level. That's honestly why people were recruiting him.

'Yeah, he can score at all different levels, yeah, he can do a lot of different things. But his shot blocking is the thing that equates to every level.'

Foster said he didn't decide on the Cyclones until Sunday night.

'Coming in,' Foster said, 'I feel like I'll probably be a role player. That's just perfectly fine for me, knowing that you have to work getting to be the guy on the team. I'm perfectly fine with being a role player, coming in and getting good minutes and contributing to the team.'

The Cyclones' recruiting Class of 2020 also includes guard Jaden Walker of Lawrenceville, Ga., and forwards Dudley Blackwell of Pembroke Pines, Fla., and Darlinstone Dubar of Charlotte, N.C. Blackwell is regarded as a 4-star recruit, Walker and Dubar 3-stars.