Blue Devil Alum is a
College Hoops Star
Julie Forster is happy to be back on the SUNY Albany campus. She's a sophomore there and a college basketball star. What a difference a year makes.
Last year the 2009 graduate of Huntington High School walked onto the Albany basketball team without any guarantees about her future in the sport. Forster then went out and played her way into the starting line-up a handful of games into the season and was so sensational she was named to the America East Conference's All-Rookie team by year's end.
Forster, who wears No. 11 for the Great Danes, started 24-of-30 games, averaged 32 minutes on the floor, pulled down a staggering 259 rebounds (8.6 per game average), blocked 43 shots, picked up 30 assists and 51 steals, averaged 8.8 points and shot 62 percent from the free throw line. She became an immediate favorite of Albany's fans.
At Huntington, Forster played on four different varsity teams, but made her most impressive mark in basketball, scoring more than 1,000 points. She helped lead the team to three straight appearances in the Suffolk finals and the 2008 county crown. A five-time varsity letter winner on the hard court, she was a two-time All-County and All-State player.
Three days after the season ended last March, Albany head coach Trina Patterson resigned. She was replaced by NCAA Division I veteran Katie Abrahamson-Henderson, who is came east from Indiana University where she was associate head coach. A new set of assistant coaches has also been named.
"I really like them and the ideas they have for our team and am really excited about this upcoming season," Forster said about the new coaching staff. "We only graduated one senior so we'll be a more experienced team this year. Our non-conference schedule was just released. We'll be playing a few of the teams we played last year and some new ones too, like Syracuse and Duke."
Forster attended a team meeting last week and some of the items covered during the session made her think about Huntington. "I really enjoyed my freshman year," Forster said. "This summer, as a team, we came up and did a four week summer session from mid-July to mid-August. During this time I was able to workout with my teammates, meet some of my new coaches and also take a class."
If last season was any indication of Forster's future in the sport, it appears bright. Her 259 rebounds were 105 more than any other Albany player. Her freshman year included some astounding performances, such as a 20 rebound effort that helped the Great Danes top New Hampshire in overtime, 64-62. She was in double digits in rebounds in most games.
Against Stony Brook, the Huntington grad connected for 14 points and crashed the boards for 12 rebounds. She pulled down 16 rebounds against Siena and 13 against Rhode Island.
Forster is known as a very hard worker who plays at full speed at all times. She's earned the respect of America East coaches and players. She's looking forward to her sophomore campaign. "We don't start practices until mid-October but we'll be doing pre-season weight training, running, individual work and playing pick-up until then," she said.
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