Memphis continues to announce new signees for the 2026 season, and Saturday morning, it announced two more signings. The program officially announced the signing of offensive lineman Koby Keenum, who committed earlier this week, and defensive back Ian Foster.
Foster started his career at Marshall and redshirted as a freshman before becoming a spot on the All-Sun Belt Conference First Team as a redshirt freshman. While he didn’t see a lot of action as a defensive back, he played a huge role on special teams and led the FBS in return average among qualifying players.
As a redshirt freshman, Foster had 16 kick returns for 518 yards and led the FBS in 50+-yard kickoff returns and 40+-yard kickoff returns with three and five, respectively.
Foster followed coach Charles Huff to Southern Miss and played a vital role on the defense last season. The redshirt sophomore recorded 76 tackles, a sack, three interceptions and seven pass deflections.
Foster finished with a defensive grade of 84.3 on Pro Football Focus, which ranked third on the team. He also finished second on the team in interceptions and third in pass deflections last season.
Huff didn’t use Foster on special teams as much as he used him in that position at Marshall, and Foster finished the season with only two kickoff returns for 44 yards.
It was reported that Foster was down to five teams in his recruiting process, and he would decide between Memphis, Kansas State, Houston, Ole Miss, Oregon and Arkansas. He ultimately decided to sign with the Tigers after visiting during the first weekend of the year.
Foster will have two seasons of eligibility remaining.
With the signing of Foster, Memphis has announced 24 signees on its X profile, and there are still a handful of players who are committed but yet to sign.