Senior Jeff Foote, 265 pounds, 84 inches, and 2 Ivy League titles, will continue to lead the Red this season from center. The big man was last year’s Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year and NABC second-team All-District. So what’s next for one of the Red’s most integral players on both sides of the court?

Foote will admit, though tall, he wasn’t the most ripped man on the court. But that changed in the offseason when Foote and senior Ryan Wittman played summer league in Minn., where Foote put on 25 pounds of raw muscle.

“That was a great experience to go out to Minn.,” Foote said. “I got to work a little bit with Ryan’s dad, who coaches for the Wizards now. … As far as the league goes, it was a pretty solid league. There were some players there from Germany, old NBA players –– just a variety of guys.”

This season, Foote will be faced with the new challenge of continuing to push the Red on defense. According to head coach Steve Donahue, the Red’s main weakness last season was its lack of defense during tough offensive games. Foote will have the chance to face off with some of the top guards in college basketball this season when Cornell heads to Kansas to take on the Jayhawks.

“I think our biggest challenge is probably preseason No. 1 Kansas,” Foot said. “They have a lot of hype surrounding them. Personally, I’ll have to go against [junior center] Cole Aldrich, who was highly recruited and probably going to be drafted.”

This season will be the capstone on what has already been an amazing career at Cornell for Foote. But like any star athlete trying to leave his final mark, Foote is aiming for the stars this season.

“We want to go undefeated in the Ivy League and make a splash in the tournament,” he said.