It’s impossible to escape. When he’s on the court, senior Jeff Bostic makes sure that his hands are everywhere. On defense, the 6-foot-5-inch center gets in the lane to intercept passes, crashes the boards and pulls down double-digit numbers in rebounds nearly every night. He can jump well above the rim, and constantly denies his opponents with his powerful blocks.

Back on offense, Bostic positions himself in the post, receives feeds from his teammates and muscles himself free of an opponents’ grasp to throw down his signature two-handed slam.

 

For such a quick and powerful player, Bostic is a quiet enforcer. He is nearly silent on the court and lets his strength do the talking for him. He says he only speaks when he needs to. When he is presented with an obstacle, he grits his teeth and powers through it.

“I try to put my head down and drive through any challenges,” he said.

This is the approach he’s had for his entire life, on and off the basketball court. Bostic said one of his cousins likes to tell him that he doesn’t like to waste his breath. But his low-key disposition doesn’t prevent him from being a leader. Rather than telling his teammates what to do, he shows them with his work ethic, determination and relentless effort.

“He’s one of the leaders of our team, but he doesn’t talk much,” senior captain and point guard Sean Burton said. “He sets the example through his actions. Over the past four years, he’s gotten better every year. It’s because of his work ethic on and off the court during practice.”

Bostic’s basketball coach at Geneva High School Jay Lauer said Bostic was this way even before he came to Ithaca. He gave his full effort no matter what, whether it was on the basketball court or in the classroom.

Lauer said he will never forget one practice when Bostic came to the gym visibly upset. When Lauer asked him what was wrong Bostic responded that a teacher was not accepting a project that had been due that day. He had done the project but had left it in his locker.

“It showed me his character ... when I saw him truly care about that,” Lauer said. “And that’s Jeff.”

This same approach throughout his four years at Ithaca has been what has helped him become the college’s 19th-ever 1,000-point scorer. Bostic reached this milestone Jan. 6 at home in an 87–64 win over Utica College. He said the most exciting part about joining this elite club is joining Bomber immortality.

“To join that group, it means a lot,” Bostic said. “It means you’re forever part of the program. You made history and got on a list. It’s a great accomplishment that I’ve done something over these past four years that is going to be recognized.”

Bostic said his greatest inspiration when  it comes to playing basketball is his mother, Brenda. She keeps all of his awards on display in her home in Geneva, N.Y., and the ball from Bostic’s 1,000-point game will be added soon.

Despite all the accolades Bostic has earned playing basketball, this is the first year he has stuck strictly to the hardwood. In his first three years on South Hill, Bostic was a lettering member of the football team as both a tight end and wide receiver. In high school, Bostic was also a member of the basketball, football and track and field teams. He said his history in football and track have improved his game on the court.

“Track helped me gain a lot of speed and quickness to be able to do some of the things I do on the court,” Bostic said. “Football really helped with the footwork, being a wide receiver. It helped my ability to slide and move my feet and play a little bit better defense than I would if I hadn’t known those things.”

Though both football and track have helped his skills and athleticism, Head Coach Jim Mullins said Bostic’s decision to stick with basketball this year has been beneficial to his skills on the court and in turn has helped the team to a 14–1 record.

“He was with the [team] from the beginning of the year,” Mullins said. “When they’re getting ready in preseason conditioning they’re running, whether it’s on the court or doing conditioning workouts. Jeff was more basketball-ready this year than ever before.”

Bostic said he loved football but gave it up for the team’s sake.

“I was having more fun playing basketball, and I was negatively affecting the team by playing football,” he said. “I was through playing the sport … I really wanted to concentrate on basketball for this one year.”

Senior Jake Queener, a member of Ithaca’s football team, one of Bostic’s best friends and his high school teammate in football and basketball said basketball is Bostic’s true love in the sports world.

“He always liked football, but it seemed like his heart was always in basketball,” Queener said.

Off the court, the television-radio major shows the same determination behind video editing equipment. Bostic said he is interested by the entire world of television, but one of his favorite parts of it is editing footage of his teammates and making highlight packages for them. He has even posted highlight films of himself and Burton on YouTube.

Quiet, determined and well rounded, Bostic continues to make highlights on the court, prompting the hometown crowd to stand and cheer with every monster block and vicious dunk.  

But with all the noise he commands with his basketball skills, Bostic said his silent leadership will remain consistent throughout the season.

“In a game, if we need something, I’m not going to be the one trying to talk, I’m going to be the one trying to get things done,” he said.