From AAU opponents to college teammates to long-distance friends and college teammates once again, Blinn College basketball players Elijah Elliott and Marco Foster are using the game to tell a story of an enduring friendship that began on the hardwood.
“We’re family,” said Foster. “We have basketball, but it’s more than that now. Elijah is my brother.”
“We have so much in common beyond just basketball,” added Elliott. “We talk about life, our families know each other. There’s more to it than just the game of basketball.”
It’s hard to argue with the tandem of talented sophomore guards.
A relationship that started with just one game of AAU summer league basketball in which the two high school standouts were opponents has since blossomed.
Foster, a 6’2″ long-distance threat from Lancaster, Texas, and Elliott, a 6’1″ do-it-all from Houston, never faced off in high school, instead meeting again as collegiate teammates at Division II Oklahoma Christian University in the fall of 2020.
“I remembered Elijah from the AAU game because even though my team won the game, Elijah went off,” Foster recalled. “He played a great game.”
“I kind of knew who he was but at the same time, I didn’t know much about him,” Elliott added. “Then we got to Oklahoma Christian and everything changed.”
Assigned to the same college dorm room, Elliott and Foster forged a friendship through their shared love of basketball, as well as the thrill of online video games and the everyday trials and tribulations of college life.
And on the court, the duo flourished.
In their lone season at Oklahoma Christian, the pair led the Eagles in scoring, with Elliott registering 15.5 points a game and Foster a hair behind at 15.4.
(Pictured: Blinn College sophomore guard Elijah Elliott drives to the basket for a layup during a game against Victoria College on Feb. 8)
Following their first collegiate season, Elliott and Foster explored options at the Division I level, and eventually went their separate ways. Foster found a home at the University of New Hampshire; Elliott committed to Mount St. Mary’s University.
As fate would have it, however, one season apart was seemingly too much for the two friends. Dissatisfied with their respective situations, Foster and Elliott opted to further pursue their hoop dreams at the junior college level, and Elliott looked to make good on a promise.
“I recruited Elijah when he was a senior at Jack Yates High School in Houston,” Blinn head men’s basketball coach Scott Schumacher said. “He was one of those guys who could do everything on the court … shoot, pass, dribble, attack the rim, shoot the 3. He has that ‘it’ factor. I told him he’d have a spot here if he ever decided to come to Blinn.”
And in return: “I promised coach Schumacher that if I ever decided to play at the junior college level, Blinn would be my choice,” added Elliott.
Elliott wouldn’t come alone, as Schumacher quickly did his homework on his new guard’s compadre before making a concurrent offer. Previously remembering Foster as “the 3-point shooter from Lancaster,” Schumacher’s renewed scouting report read much differently.
“He really evolved his game,” the coach said. “A lot of Division I coaches who are recruiting him right now say his handles are a lot tighter and better since his high school days. He brings an element to the game that everyone in basketball looks for these days, and that’s shooting 3s that actually go in the basket. But Marco does more than that; he guards well, he rebounds, he’s a great team player. He’s a guy you want on your team.”
Elliott and Foster arrived in Brenham looking to find roles on a sophomore-heavy Buccaneer squad. Nine players from the 2021-22 season returned for their sophomore season, but Schumacher said the duo’s coveted mix of skill and character made the transition a smooth one.
“We work extremely hard to bring in high-character people,” said Schumacher. “High-character guys want to play with high-character guys, and those two kids are high-character guys.”
(Pictured: Blinn College sophomore Marco Foster shoots a 3-pointer during a game against Coastal bend on Jan. 14)
For Elliott and Foster, adapting to their new teammates’ style of play was the only hill to climb en route to success, one they scaled very quickly.
“Once we learned how everyone played the game and how to be successful with everyone, everything else came naturally,” Foster said. “There was a lot of talent around us, and it was exciting,” added Elliott. “That made us want to play hard and be successful.”
Blinn has benefitted from the pair’s ability to adapt.
A 17-7 Buccaneer squad has been led by Elliott’s team-high 16.4 points-per-game scoring average, with Foster right behind at 14.7. Elliott had a season-high 27 points in a win over Kilgore College on Jan. 7 and has turned in 19 double-digit scoring efforts overall this season. He’s registered seven contests with at least 20 points.
In almost identical fashion, Foster has scored a season-best 24 points twice – in consecutive victories over Victoria College and Lamar State College-Port Arthur on Jan. 18 and Jan. 21 – to go with 120double-digit games and seven 20-point-plus outputs.
(Pictured: Blinn College sophomore guard Elijah Elliott)
Elliott also leads the Bucs with almost four assists per outing, while Foster has turned in a respectable five rebounds per game.
“Blinn has been great to us,” Elliott said. “This is a place where there hasn’t been any pressure; we’ve just been able to go out and play and have success and build toward that next opportunity to play at the next level.”
“Blinn is exactly what coach Schumacher said it would be, and that’s a chance to succeed and earn a new chance at Division I ball,” Foster stated.
(Pictured: Blinn College sophomore guard Marco Foster)
Both men are currently receiving Division I offers and will study sports management upon graduating from Blinn. In the meantime, Elliott and Foster hope to check a goal off their agendas before possibly going their separate ways once again – or perhaps, sticking together.
“We want to win a national championship here first,” said Elliott. “Marco and I said that from the beginning. Then we can worry about Division I. When that time comes, if we can go somewhere together that fits us both, that’s great; if not, I’ll still want the best for Marco.”
Added Foster: “We want to win here first, and then no matter where we go after Blinn, we want each other to succeed. That’s really all that matters.”
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 42 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
