Lennox Forrester is an American

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

coach and the former men's head coach at

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) is a public university in Edwardsville, Illinois, United States. Located within the Metro East of Greater St. Louis, SIUE was established in 1957 as an extension of Southern Illinois University Ca ...

(SIUE). He was an assistant coach at his alma mater, the

University of Evansville The University of Evansville (UE) is a private university in Evansville, Indiana. It was founded in 1854 as Carnegie Hall of Moores Hill College, Moores Hill College. The university operates a satellite center, Harlaxton Manor, Harlaxton College ...

after being fired by SIUE. He currently serves as the Executive Director at the Downtown Belleville YMCA in

Belleville, Illinois Belleville is a city in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. It is a southeastern suburb of St. Louis. The population was 42,404 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the most populated city in the Me ...

Biography

A native of

Evanston, Illinois Evanston is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. A suburb of Chicago, Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skok ...

, Forrester transferred to the

after graduating from Parkland (IL) College, where he was a

National Junior College Athletic Association The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) is the governing association of community college, state college, and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions across 24 states ...

Division II

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

in 1989. Leg injuries prevented Forrester from joining the Purple Aces as a player. Instead, he remained with the program as a student assistant and earned a bachelor of arts degree in sociology in 1992. Forrester and his wife, domestic and internationally acclaimed Dr. Racquel Forrester, have a daughter, Calaya, and movie and playwright director, son Drew of TFL Media. works at gateway regional ymca downtown Belleville Illinois center go gwrymca.org and click on locations then go to the Downtown Belleville center location truth

Coaching career

After graduating from Evansville, Forrester spent 10 seasons (1992–2002) as an assistant coach and administrative assistant for the school under coach

Jim Crews James S. Crews (born February 14, 1954) is an American former men's college basketball coach for Saint Louis University. He was promoted to head coach after serving on an interim basis following the health concerns and eventual death of former Bi ...

. He then served five seasons as an assistant coach to

Jim Les James Alan Les (born August 18, 1963) is an American basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the UC Davis Aggies men's team. A former point guard, Les played seven seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) after hi ...

Bradley University Bradley University is a private university in Peoria, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1897, Bradley University enrolls 5,200 students who are pursuing degrees in more than 100 undergraduate programs and more than 30 graduate programs in fiv ...

, before being named as the seventh coach of the

SIU Edwardsville Cougars The SIU Edwardsville Cougars are the intercollegiate athletic teams of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE), located in Edwardsville, Illinois, United States. The Cougars' athletic program is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference ( ...

. During Forrester's first year as coach, SIUE was a member of the Division II

Great Lakes Valley Conference The Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Its fifteen member institutions are located in the U.S. states of Illinois, ...

. In his second season, the school began a five-year transition to Division I. SIUE joined the

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA; the conference's football programs compete in partnership with ...

in 2008 and played its first full conference schedule in the 2011–12 season but was not eligible for post-season competition until 2012–13. On May 4, 2012, it was announced that, in light of the program's steady progress, SIUE had extended Forrester's contract for an additional three years. On March 10, 2015, it was announced that Forrester and his entire staff would not be retained because, according to SIUE Athletic Director Dr. Brad Hewitt, "... our won-loss record and program support are not where we believe it should be." In eight seasons, Forrester's record was 82–146.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forrester, Lennox 1969 births Living people American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Illinois Basketball players from Evanston, Illinois Bradley Braves men's basketball coaches Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball coaches College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Junior college men's basketball players in the United States Parkland College alumni SIU Edwardsville Cougars men's basketball coaches 20th-century American sportsmen