Best friends Marble, Foster opt to stay the course with Cowboys

Foster and Marble, both sophomore guards on the UW men’s basketball team, found themselves at a crossroads in early March: Allen Edwards, the man who put his faith in the two Colorado natives, was fired following a 9-24 campaign in 2019-20. Jeff Linder, who recruited both of them while he coached Northern Colorado, was named UW’s head coach March 17.

Foster and Marble were familiar with Linder and what he brought to the table, but neither was sure if Laramie was still in his plans. The duo is inseparable. They’ve been playing basketball with and against each other since elementary school in and around the Denver area. They also played AAU ball together for the Colorado Hawks.

“We do everything together,” Foster said with a laugh. “We see each other 20 hours of the day.”

Was there any doubt this was another journey they would take side by side?

After a bit of deliberation and soul-searching, the duo decided to put its faith in Linder. Having tasted success in an unlikely run to the semifinals of the 2020 Mountain West Tournament, both Foster and Marble wanted to hold on to that feeling. The two combined for 33 points in a tight loss to eventual champion Utah State and showed glimpses of what the future could hold.

Ultimately, both felt Linder was the man who could help them reach every bit of the top of Laramie’s 7,220 feet. Marble and Foster feel like they are the building blocks of something special, and it’s an experience they want to go through together.

“Being a player, and to experience winning at that level and playing that well ... knowing that we have a great opportunity with Kwane and I being so young (was huge),” Foster said. “I think seeing that bit of success has driven us to work our asses off.”

Marble admits he had his share of butting heads with Edwards, who at times pointed to Marble being out of shape early in the season as a reason he did not see extended playing time. Over the last 16 games of the year, however, Marble thrived, often becoming the team’s go-to threat, even when all-conference guard Hunter Maldonado was on the floor. Marble averaged 12.5 points per game over that stretch, including a pair of 20-point efforts in Mountain West Tournament upsets over Colorado State and Nevada.

After a rough patch, Marble and Edwards seemed to be on the same page. But before the honeymoon even got set to take off, it was over.

“To see him go in the way he did, it was tough, because I feel like I was just getting to know the guy,” Marble said.

Selling Foster and Marble on Linder’s brand of basketball wasn’t a particularly difficult task. In an era of fast-paced basketball, with 3-pointers as a strength of nearly every championship-caliber team, Linder’s offensive scheme is every scorer’s perfect landing spot.

Last season, under Linder, Northern Colorado made a staggering 317 3-pointers, which was tied for 10th nationally. By comparison, UW made 260, which was tied for 71st. Perhaps more telling were the percentages from deep: the Bears hit at a 38.4% clip (10th nationally), while the Cowboys shot 32.1% from 3-point range (239th nationally).

Linder emphasizes transition offense and quick hitters, mirroring much of what the NBA has gravitated toward in recent years with the success of the Golden State Warriors. For a pair of scoring guards like Marble and Foster, it’s nothing short of a fantasy.

“Coach Linder, (when) he talks to you (he tells you), ‘If you don’t shoot the ball, you’re going to have a problem,’” Foster said with a laugh. “That is every basketball player’s dream to hear.”

It was beyond floor spacing and shooting prowess that Linder felt he needed both Marble and Foster to stay the course in Laramie, however. Linder wanted good character people, the “right guys,” to lead the Cowboys back to the promised land. While the success on the court might not have been there for UW in recent seasons, Linder was certain players like Hunter Thompson, Maldonado, Foster and Marble were essential pieces of the turnaround puzzle.

When coaching changes occur, some new coaches want to bring in “their guys.” To that end, Linder has recruited extremely well. UW has the top recruiting class in the Mountain West for 2020 and ranks 50th overall nationally, according to Rivals. But just as important as bringing in new talent was letting players like Foster and Marble know they were wanted, too. It’s why, just hours after getting the job, Linder drove to meet the two face to face.

“I was able to get in front of them that day and just show them that I was committed to them. They were my guys,” Linder said. “Sometimes in recruiting and coaching, (coaches) get caught in ‘my guys.’ I wanted them to know that regardless, they were my guys.”

There’s just something about the inseparable duo of Marble and Foster that can’t help but make Linder smile. Their connection on the court is easy to see. They are always a step ahead in terms of knowing what the other one is going to do. But more than that, their energy off the hardwood is infectious. They feed off each other and make each other laugh. They are a pleasure to be around – the type of young men that can’t help but brighten the cloudiest days.

As someone with young children, Linder wants influences like Marble and Foster around.

“They’re just really good kids,” Linder said. “They’re going to be around my kids … (the coaches’) kids are going to be the ones that look up to them. The more you have guys like them around your kids, that makes my life a lot easier.”

Maldonado was the first of the team’s core players to announce he was returning to UW via a Twitter post just one day after Linder’s hiring. Marble and Foster aren’t on social media as frequently, though, and took their time in officially announcing they were returning to Laramie in late April and early May, respectively. But the duo had informed Linder fairly quickly they would be donning brown and gold again. Their lack of making it public wasn’t any sort of wavering on their end, they said.

Following Maldonado’s lead made the choice easier. If the captain and heart and soul of the Cowboys could put his faith in Linder’s vision, there was no reason Marble and Foster wouldn’t follow suit. But it was also a choice each had to make on his own. And, ultimately, each is sleeping easier at night knowing he’s in the Equality State for the long haul.

“I think we both made the right decision on staying,” Marble said.

While student-athletes just officially started making their way back to campus for the first time in months due to the coronavirus pandemic, both Marble and Foster have been back in Laramie for about a month and a half

“I figure if we have to pay rent, why not be here?” Marble said.

The two aren’t roommates, but they live a hop, skip and a jump from each other. UW athletes are currently undergoing a mandatory two-week quarantine, but the two have managed to take bike rides together and have been playing NBA 2K and watching “Avatar: The Last Airbender” on Netflix.

To say each is excited about what the future in Laramie holds is an understatement. Foster and Marble feel their styles fit perfectly for what Linder wants to do in a basketball sense. Marble’s smooth drives to the hoop and jump-shooting combined with Foster’s aggressiveness on and off the ball are perfect compliments to a fast-paced style of play. Fans will smile a lot watching UW in 2020-21, Foster said.

But outside of basketball, Foster and Marble felt they had to make the best decision for themselves as friends and brothers.

So far, it’s a slam dunk.

“Kwane and I are, like, best friends. I feel like we have, on and off the court, a certain connection,” Foster said. “It makes the sport almost twice as fun to play.”