After starting all but nine games last season, ISU men’s basketball player Marcus Jefferson is going into the upcoming season trying to be more competitive.

“My role is to be very active on offensive and defensive ends of the floor and to be effective,” the transfer from Providence said. “I also have more of a leader role and should really contribute to the team.”

In 25.7 minutes of playing time a game last season, Jefferson averaged 7.3 points per game.

The junior also shot 43.3 percent from behind the arc and was second on the team with 30 steals.

Jefferson would like to see all his stats improve this year.

After starting last season with 18 points in the season opener against Hartford, he started seeing limited playing time at the end of the season and has been working hard in the off-season — especially with the offensive side of his game.

“I worked on getting a consistent jump shot,” he said.

With 69 turnovers last year and 4.1 rebounds per game, Jefferson realizes he has other areas to improve on as well.

“Ball handling skills and going to the board hard is another area I wanted to improve,” he said.

ISU head basketball coach Larry Eustachy sees the improvements Jefferson has made.

“Marcus Jefferson this year is better than Marcus Jefferson last year,” Eustachy said.

His work ethics are also being seen by his teammates.

“Marcus comes in every day and works really hard at everything,” said former teammate Ricky Morgan, who left the team last week. “He also works hard in the off season, always trying to improve and get better.”

With his excellent athletic ability, Jefferson is normally given the role of guarding the opposition’s best player.

“That’s my buddy. We expect him to play great defense. He is one of our more athletic players,” Morgan said. “He will be guarding the toughest guy on the other team.”

Confidence is something that Jefferson also has more of going into this year, not just individually, but as a team.

He said he has come to see what his role on the team is.

“We expect him to rebound and score when he has to. We expect him to make plays. He can make those plays. That is the type of player he is,” Morgan said. “He is also a great and fun guy to be around.”

While he is waiting to set personal goals for himself, Jefferson wants to see the team in the top five of the Big 12 Conference. With the Cyclones trying to bounce back from a sub-par season last year, Jefferson knows it isn’t going to come easy and nothing will be handed to them.

“There is always room for improvement with this program because everything is so demanding,” Jefferson said. “We always have to get better everyday.”