Clemson Guard Zac Foster Reveals Recovery Process After Season-Ending Injury

The future is bright for Clemson basketball, and that starts with electric freshman guard Zac Foster.

Unfortunately for the Atlanta native, he suffered a season-ending torn ACL against South Carolina back in December, being out for the entire ACC campaign this season. However, he spoke about what he’s been up to on The Roar FM’s Tiger Hour on Monday night.

Foster thanks the program for the people around him, who have made the recovery process a lot easier.

“I’m doing good. I’m in good spirits,” he said. “I had so many good people around me, like family, and obviously, my team and the staff have been with me throughout this entire journey. I’ve been attacking my rehab, as you said, and my knee’s been getting better.”

The guard suffered the injury on Dec. 16, getting surgery to repair it on Dec. 31. While the players practice, he does physical therapy with the athletic trainer, Brad Crowe. In the upcoming weeks, he will slowly be integrated into things within the weight room, due to Foster being able to do new things with his knee, like “bend it now and straighten it”.

That’s what head coach Brad Brownell said about where Foster had the edge this season, and led to a little bit of his success: being a bigger player. He weighed 190 pounds at the beginning of the season, but the number dipped due to the injury. That will be a point of emphasis when he comes fully healthy.

“I think his ability and size, but his ability to put on the weight, really helped him in that early adjustment,” Brownell said.

Foster is a player who can create his own shot, but he can also get teammates open. In fact, in the 12 games he played this season, he never had a negative plus/minus. It was always positive, including a +12 against BYU on the biggest stage of his career at Madison Square Garden.

However, the former four-star recruit still wants to be a better decision maker, which will be one of the most important things he will focus on when he is back on the court. However, he wants to become all-around better in his sophomore season.

“Really, everything, but mostly, I would say just work on my decision making,” he said. “Obviously, I haven’t really touched the ball that much because of my surgery, so I would say by ball handling and trying to just get my shot right.”

In the meantime, he’s a student of the team. Foster continues to adjust to the preparation that Brownell puts into every game, but he’s an active piece while sitting on the bench. Being known for being able to help his teammates on the court, he will look to see different things off the court to give the Tigers an advantage.

While it’s a shame that an injury derailed what could have been an exciting freshman season for Foster, he wants to be a better teammate first, saying a lot about the person that he is going forward for Clemson in years to come.

“I’m just trying to be a good quality teammate,” he said. “Just trying to, you know, give advice where I can, and when I see things, because I’m obviously sitting, I can watch everything. But, honestly, just trying to be a good teammate as we go through this final stretch of the season.”

When he gets back on the court next November, teams will have their hands full. For now, Foster will be a student of the game and will have plenty more on his toolbelt when he becomes a leader of the backcourt in the fall of 2026.