DeShaun Foster Has Learned a lot From Year 1

UCLA head coach DeShaun Foster is now heading into his second season leading the Bruins, and so far he's gotten the process down. 2024 definitely started out a little bumpy for Foster and the team, but they managed to get on top of it during the later stages of the season, winning 4 of their last 6 games.

"Just continue to believe," coach Foster stated to NBC Sport's Jordan Cornette in a recent interview. "That's really all it is though. You know, you start losing games, you start pointing fingers, you start just not taking things serious. I think my players just did a good job of [embracing] 'each week we're trying to win'. Each week we're getting better."

Foster has taken this philosophy and applied it throughout the start of Fall Camp, where he's continued to emphasize the importance of bonding and chemistry to his players through various methods, and it's worked. Though only a few days in, the team seems the most together they've been yet.

He's clearly learned from last year, where the season didn't go the way he necessarily wanted it to.

"It's really just in the type of kids that I want to bring in," said Foster when asked about what he's taken away from his first year as the Bruins' head coach. "You know, I kind of got a late start to recruiting last year, and this year I think we did a great job of just really making sure that these players that we bring in here embody the pillars that we want. I think we've done a good job with that and that's why we're in the direction that we're going in."

"It really wasn't able to start until the offseason really," Foster continued. "I was still able to implement my leadership and all of that stuff to everybody. You really try to make sure that everybody's on the same page. That took a full season and offseason to get there."

As Foster and UCLA continue prepping for their first game in a little over three weeks, the nation can already tell there's a new culture surrounding this team. A lot of that is thanks to Coach Foster.