Minnesota, Houston Name Coaches

Western Kentucky basketball Coach Clem Haskins Tuesday night was named head coach of the strife-ridden University of Minnesota basketball program. Earlier in the day, Pat Foster of Lamar University, who previously had withdrawn his name from consideration as a replacement for the retired Guy Lewis at the University of Houston, changed his mind and accepted the Cougars’ offer.

Haskins replaces Jim Dutcher, who resigned in January after three members of the Gopher basketball team were charged with rape after a game in Madison, Wis.

Haskins, 42, was an All-American at Western Kentucky from 1965-67. The Chicago Bulls made him the No. 3 draft pick in 1967. He played nine seasons in the NBA for Chicago, Phoenix and Washington before returning to his alma mater in 1977 as an assistant coach. He became head coach before the 1980-81 season and has an overall record of 101-73.

Foster, 46, said that he had never lost interest in the Houston position. He was offered the job Monday night in what he said was his first contact with the school since withdrawing his name, and accepted it Tuesday.

Before going to Lamar, in Beaumont, Tex., where he was basketball coach and athletic director, Foster was an assistant to Eddie Sutton at the University of Arkansas. At Lamar, his teams had a 134-49 record in six years.