‘Volunteer for Life’: Within Tennessee legend Chris Lofton’s fish story

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• / > Chris LowMar 10, 2025, 11:00 AM ET Close College football press reporter
• Joined ESPN.com in 2007
• Graduate of the University of Tennessee

The very first time I laid eyes on Chris Lofton, during a preseason workout at Tennessee, my ideas mirrored those of the employers who so grossly whiffed on him throughout a legendary career at Mason County High School in Maysville, Kentucky.Yeah, he might shoot

with that minor backwards lean, but there was always a”however “mixed in there somewhere.As Lofton would playfully chide me years later on

,” Too short. Too sluggish. Not quick enough. Could not dribble all right. Could not safeguard. “Little did I know at the time that Lofton’s heart and desire for success would make any viewed drawbacks moot, to say nothing of the guts and altruism that assisted make him a legend for Volunteers fans and beyond.One of the most beloved professional athletes in University of Tennessee history, Lofton satisfied a brutal scenario head on and kicked its butt without ever pitying himself, and did so as quietly as possible because he never ever wished to end up being a distraction to his teammates.It’s been 17 years since Lofton played his senior season at Tennessee after being detected with testicular cancer, and not even his colleagues knew all he had to withstand to return on the court with them. His story will be told through the SEC Storied documentary”Volunteer for Life, “which will premiere Monday at 7 p.m. ET on the SEC Network and be available to stream on ESPN+. “I simply never ever desired it to be about me, the focus to be on what I was going through,” Lofton informed me not long after his record-setting college profession

was over following the 2008 season.”My teammates didn’t should have that. We had actually worked too hard, everyone, to get where we were to let my personal battles perhaps bring us down.” The only individual on the group Lofton informed of his circumstance was his roomie on road trips, Jordan Howell. Tennessee’s training staff and administration went to terrific lengths to keep Lofton’s cancer treatments peaceful. Very couple of people understood simply how agonizing that summer season prior to his senior season was as he underwent surgical treatment and grueling radiation treatments. He lost 20 pounds and invested many nights throwing up strongly and tearfully hoping on the phone with his parents, Franklin and Kathleen Lofton. They desperately wished to be around Knoxville more as their only child dealt with the obstacle of his life, however also didn’t wish to arouse suspicions that something was amiss.”If I could have taken the cancer myself, I would have,”Kathleen stated. Tennessee’s Chris Lofton was the SEC

Gamer of the Year as a junior in 2007, leading the Vols to theNCAA competition. Tennessee Sports Lofton was called the SEC Gamer of the Year as a junior and was featured on the Nov. 21, 2007 cover of Sports Illustrated entering into his senior season. The Vols rose to No. 1 in the nation that season after beating Memphis in a remarkable No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup, and while Lofton was a crucial part of that group, his body merely wouldn’t permit him to be what he was before the cancer treatments.After averaging 20.8 points and shooting.479 from the field as a junior, he averaged 13.4 points and shot.345 over the first 17 games of his senior year.Fans and media began to freely question if groups had determined how to defend Lofton and wondered if he was melting under the pressure of such lofty expectations, particularly after he had actually gotten off to such a slow start that season.If just they had known.That’s the appeal of Lofton’s story. He never ever as soon as said a word, never ever made excuses and was always front and center whenever media members questioned him about the dip in his numbers.It was challenging for me after discovering of Lofton’s cancer diagnosis previously that season– and after meeting him personally and getting my superiors’blessing at ESPN to keep the story peaceful– to hear all the theories about what was incorrect with Lofton.Through everything, he never ever flinched.”You’re in a storm, coming out of a storm or getting ready to enter into a storm,”Lofton stated.”It’s one of the three.”As I reflect on Lofton’s experiences and the method he plowed through it all, there were many lessons that stand out.For one, there are times when we all require assistance. Despite the fact that Lofton’s ordeal was primarily private

, he had remarkable assistance from then-Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl, fitness instructor Chad Newman, Tennessee’s entire medical personnel, Lofton’s Knoxville-based minister Tim Miller, Howell and then-Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton, among others.Hamilton was an unsung hero with the method he helped browse

the entire procedure and keep Lofton’s long for personal privacy at the leading edge. Hamilton passed away Nov. 9, 2023– he also had cancer. As an example of what Lofton meant to him, Hamilton and his partner, Beth, drove to a Nashville high school to be spoken with for the documentary. Frail and preparing for surgical treatment that he hoped would conserve his life, Hamilton passed away

less than 3 1/2 months later.Former Kentucky coach Tubby Smith was skewered for not hiring Lofton, who led his team to a high school state championship in Kentucky as a junior and a runner-up surface as a senior. Yet Smith wanted to be spoken with to go over Lofton’s journey, which states a lot about both Lofton and Smith.Lofton said maybe the most long-lasting lesson for him was that we never ever understand why things take place the way they do and, as he stated, how God is working in our lives. Lofton’s cancer was discovered after he stopped working a drug test throughout the 2007 NCAA competition. Gamers are picked arbitrarily to be tested after each round. The test revealed high levels of hCG, a hormonal agent that works as an indicator of pregnancy in females, steroid use or cancer. In this case, it revealed a tumor marker.One of the very first things I heard months later on, which proved to be inaccurate, was that Lofton had actually stopped working a test since he had actually used an NCAA-banned supplement. Having actually covered about 90 %of the games Lofton had actually played in his profession and getting to know him and his character, I kept telling myself,”No chance.”I when asked Lofton if he ever questioned what might have happened had he not been selected for that drug test.” I feel in one’s bones it conserved my life,”he said. Lofton at the ceremony where Tennessee retired his jersey in 2023. Randy Sartin/USA TODAY Sports I discovered a lot from Lofton during that time and later as we became pals. He’s the most unassuming and simple star I’ve ever covered.You see it at his youth camp every summertime in Maysville. You see it at public functions when he quietly moves in and out without wishing to be the focal point.

You see it at dining establishments when he’s consuming with his parents.Once, when I was with my own family at a restaurant, Lofton and his parents was available in. My middle child, Adam, was 7 at the time and a huge Lofton fan, with a poster of the Tennessee star on his bedroom wall. Adam was in the restroom when Lofton walked into the dining establishment. I observed Lofton head this way soon after. I turned to my partner and said, “Watch this.”Within a minute, Adam came tearing out of the bathroom shouting,” Papa, Chris Lofton is in the restroom. Chris Lofton remains in the restroom!”The entire restaurant was chuckling. Adam had played in a youth basketball game earlier that day and was still using his jersey. I asked him what Lofton said to

him, and Adam beamed,” He wished to know how we did today and if I had a good time. “Who didn’t have a good time enjoying Lofton play, seeing how much delight he gave numerous individuals, even those outside the orange persuasion? In many ways, he was the face of Tennessee’s renewal in basketball in the mid 2000s, which can still be felt today.His No. 5 jersey was retired Jan. 14, 2023, as he signed up with Bernard King, Ernie Grunfeld, Dale Ellis and Allan Houston as the only guys’s basketball players in Tennessee history to have their numbers retired.And while Lofton is finest kept in mind for playing through his cancer diagnosis and treatment, he likewise was a great player for the Volunteers. He remains the SEC’s all-time leader with 431 3-pointers, and when he graduated in 2008, he was 3rd all-time among NCAA players. I’ve never ever seen a college shooter at his size(6-foot-2)with his variety and the ability to get off a shot no matter how closely he was contested.It’s impossible to know how much a role his cancer played in hindering his imagine playing in the NBA. Lofton had a long and thriving professional profession overseas.One thing I understand for sure is that he has never ever utilized it as an excuse.He took on among life’s hardest blows and kept firing away– often from 35 feet.Chris Low was an executive producer for the “Volunteer for Life”documentary.