Joliet's Foster gets up to speed

Joliet Township's D.J. Foster comes down with a pass reception during a game last season. Foster signed a national-letter-of-intent on Wednesday to continue his career at Southeast Missouri State.

(Sun File)

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JOLIET -- D.J. Foster took care of some important business Wednesday morning, then went home sick.

The Joliet Township High School senior wide receiver cast his lot on national letter-of-intent signing day with Southeast Missouri State, which competes in the former NCAA Division I-AA.

Then, it was time to get to bed.

"I needed the rest -- it's the flu or something," he said.

Southeast Missouri State is located in Cape Girardeau. Foster had the school identified early on as a place where he would like to continue his football career.

"I actually saw on the Internet that all the skill-position coaches played for the head coach when he was on the staff at Nebraska," Foster said. "So I thought they would work together real well.

"They were the first school I sent my tapes to. Once they talked to me, I knew it was the place for me."

Foster, who caught 32 passes for 415 yards and 4 touchdowns his senior season, also had contact with Illinois State, Northern Iowa, Northern Michigan, the University of Indianapolis, Elmhurst and North Central.

"I wound up signing with the place where I had the best feel," he said. "I think I will get a fair shot to play right away."

"They like the way D.J. is physical," Steelmen coach Jason Aubry said. "In the tapes, they saw how he blocked. He has great hands and his eye-hand coordination is phenomenal.

"He knows he has to improve on his speed, but he definitely can play at that level. He has to work hard at it, though, and he knows it."

Foster has been timed at 4.7 in the 40, and he wants to get that to 4.5 by the summer. He has a plan on how to get that accomplished.

"Starting in a week or so, I'm going to start working out again with Joe Maddie," Foster said of the former Romeoville quarterback. "One of his best friends is (former Romeoville all-stater) Oliver Gibson, who played all those years in the NFL. He has all the equipment to work on my speed."

Foster said he worked with Maddie and Gibson 2-3 days a week last summer, and he was able to cut his 4.9 time in the 40 to 4.7.

"I just talked to Oliver last night," Foster said. "He has so much experience, and he brings out linemen, defensive backs, guys he played with, to Romeoville in the summer."

The other element in what Foster hopes to accomplish has to do with the classroom.

"The first semester I had a 3.5 GPA and now it's looking like I've got a 4.0 going this semester," he said. "I've got to work hard, keep in the books."

His plan is to be a pre-chiropractic major.

The victories were hard to come by during Foster's football career at JT, but he feels he benefitted from the experience.

"I want to thank Coach Aubry for all he has done for me," he said. "With our record, we didn't draw a lot of attention. But all the extra work we did as a team did make a difference."

Central offensive tackle Steve Bosilovatz cast his lot with NCAA Division II Truman State, while South tight end/linebacker Luke Gundersen, also a Cougars basketball player, signed for football with University of St. Francis.

Bosilovatz plans to major in business. He said he chose Truman State "because the coaches and current football players seem to have very positive relationships and I would like to be part of that. I know that I can receive a quality education there, and I feel I will have a good chance of playing right away and hope to contribute to the team in a positive way."