When the men’s basketball team returns to the parquet floors Nov. 14 against Alabama on the road, the Red will be suiting up a team that will be familiar to fans and opponents alike. The Red is returning all five of its starters this year, including big man and senior co-captain Jeff Foote and key offensive weapon, senior Ryan Wittman. It is this experienced starting lineup that netted the Red votes in the Top-25 preseason poll –– a Cornell first –– and marked it as the team to beat in the Ivy League for the third season in a row.

“We think we’re a very good team, so we want to pick up a couple of signature wins, especially early in the season,” Foote said. “We want to go undefeated in the Ivy League and make a splash in the tournament.”

The drive towards the three-peat will be led by an all-star group of veteran forwards, including Wittman, senior co-captain Alex Tyler and junior Adam Wire. Tyler was tied with sophomore guard Chris Wroblewski last season for most games played, and was extremely productive with his court time. Tyler notched 6.9 points per game for the Red, picking up 32 blocks in the front court. Wire also picked up 41 steals last season, while shooting .534 from the field and .707 from the free-throw line.

But when teams set foot in Newman Arena, the man to look out for will be Wittman, whose production is unparalleled. The two-time first team All-Ivy forward is expected to continue draining shots from beyond the arc this season, having made 268 of them in the past three years. Wittman has the second most points scored in the history of Red basketball, and his presence on the court will be integral to another Ivy League title and another trip to the NCAA tournament.

The addition of senior Mark Coury, a transfer from Kentucky, will be big for the Red when it comes to rebounds.

“He is a terrific defender, gets his hands on balls, gets a lot of deflections,” said head coach Steve Donahue. “He’ll make us a stronger rebounding team and a better defensive team.”

Coury will present another big man for the Red; standing at 6-9, he is the tallest player on the team aside from starting center Foote. Though Coury might not produce much on offense, the defense he learned at Kentucky will be key for the Red this season.

“We want to be a team when things aren’t going well on offense, we can really shut people down, in particular on the road,” Donahue said. “The games we lost last season at Princeton and at Yale were games where we struggled defensively and relied on our offense, which wasn’t there those games.”

Foote, the Red’s go-to center for the past couple seasons will reprise his role for 2009-10. Foote produced an astounding 64 blocks last season, averaging 2.1 per game. Foote also came through on offense, tacking on a solid 11.8 points per game.

But what’s changed with Foote since the end of last season is about 25 pounds of raw muscle that is bound to make him more dominant in the paint.

“Mostly, I think it’s going to help me with rebounding and holding my position in the post … I should be able to push guys around instead of getting pushed around a little bit,” Foote said.