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Lennox Forrester guided the Cougars to a 10-20 finish in their first season as a Division I program. Included in the 10 wins, three against true Division I opponents. The first win came November 16, when SIUE knocked off Western Michigan 83-72 at the Charleston Classic in Charleston, SC. Forrester's team also picked up wins at UMKC and SEMO. Forrester coached freshman Mark Yelovich to the second-best season by a freshman in school history. Yelovich finished with 369 points. The Mt. Zion native led the team with an averageof 13.6 a night and received Honorable Mention honors as part of the All-Independent team. Introduced as SIUE's seventh head coach on April 9, 2007, Forrester made it quickly apparent that he had all of the tools necessary to provide a successful program on the court and in the classroom. He put his mark on SIUE basketball in his first season, setting the school record for wins by a rookie head coach with 17. The Cougars' 17-11 record was good enough to qualify for the GLVC's post-season tournament in the school's final season in the conference. Forrester immediately set his game plan into motion during the 2007-2008 season. He led the Cougars to becoming a top defensive team. The Cougars limited their opponents to shooting 43 percent from the field, well enough for second in the conference. The Cougars were also second in the conference with their 7.96 steals per game average. Within that framework, SIUE basketball was motivated to becoming a strong presence on the offensive end, dangerous with an inside and outside game. Forrester also coached T.J. Gray into becoming an All-GLVC second team selection. The Chicago native was tops in the conference with his 3.78 three pointers made per game. Gray became the SIUE single-season leader for three pointers with 102. He came to SIUE as one of the longest-tenured assistant coaches in the Missouri Valley Conference, most recently spending five seasons as an assistant coach at Bradley University. His work with post players as well as perimeter players at Bradley proved successful for the Braves. Forrester was beside Bradley Coach Jim Les when the Braves advanced to the second round of the NIT in 2007. The 2005-06 season saw the Braves advance to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet Sixteen. Before his time at Bradley, Forrester spent 10 seasons (1992-2002) as an assistant coach and an administrative assistant for the University of Evansville under Coach Jim Crews. A former National Junior College All-American at Parkland College in 1989, Forrester transferred to Evansville to join the Purple Aces as a player. Leg injuries precluded Forrester from playing. Instead, he remained with the program as a student assistant. Forrester earned a bachelor of arts in sociology at Evansville in 1992. He was a junior college All-American at Parkland College before transferring to Evansville to finish his degree. He and his wife, Aretha, have a 4-year-old daughter, Calaya. |
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