Scott Foulis is still relatively new to the women's basketball program, but he is no stranger to the NCAA Division III Tournament. Foulis, in his first season as the Judges' assistant coach, made the tournament twice in his three years as an assistant at Springfield College and another two times at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.Also a former assistant at Division I Bucknell University, Foulis was at head coach Carol Simon's side for the Judges' third straight Tournament run, replacing Anthony Ewing, the assistant who was there for the past six seasons. Foulis sat down with JustSports last week to talk about his first season at Brandeis.

JustSports: How does the environment at Brandeis compare with your previous coaching stints?

Scott Foulis: It's very similar. Springfield is another high-level Division III school, and with Bucknell, the most obvious parallel is having a really quality athletic program along with a high academic institution, and the interplay there would be the true meaning of a student athlete. For me, that's really satisfying. Springfield, though, is a different animal in that athletics are so ingrained in what it does.

JS: What have you learned so far from head coach Carol Simon?

SF: She's really good at managing a program, which at this level is what it comes down to. There's a lot that goes on behind the scenes administratively, things that aren't quite as glamorous as standing on the sidelines for a couple of hours during the game: just the ability to manage and stay on top of such a high-level program, motivating a group of student athletes that have been successful, keeping them hungry. Here, while there has been a considerable degree of success, I don't think anyone is satisfied.

JS: Is it a challenge for you as a new assistant coach to establish your authority alongside a head coach like Simon, who has been here for 20 years?

SF: At some of the places I've worked previously, including Springfield, with longtime head coaches, it's probably easier at those places [to adjust]. I think the teams are used to a certain way of doing things; there is a lot of inertia when you have a program that has been as successful as this one has, so it's pretty easy to plug yourself in.

JS: What have been your primary roles during your first season as a Judges' assistant coach?

SF: On [the court], I work with our post players. That has been a big focus of ours, as far as trying to get consistent production. We have a good group; we've dealt with some injuries. We have [forward] Amanda Wells '09 out now for the rest of the season, and we've had kind of a rotating cast throughout the season. Other than that, I've been assisting Simon with everything else in the program, in terms of recruiting, scouting, game prep,and all that we do during the day before practice.

JS: What is your favorite part about participating in the NCAA Tournament?

SF: It's just that it's a time of year that not everyone's playing anymore. It's an elite group. It's hard to really put into words, but things just operate at a different level; it's just a different excitement. Not that the regular season isn't exciting, but the goal of every team when they start practice that first day is to make it to the postseason, tying in to that ultimate goal of a national championship.