Tennessee to Retire No. 5 Jersey
Tennessee Basketball announced Thursday evening that they are going to add a new jersey to the rafters in Thompson-Boling Arena: the No. 5 of VFL great Chris Lofton.
Lofton's reaction to the news can be seen below.
UT will officially retire the jersey on January 14, 2023 when the Vols take on Kentucky in TBA.
Lofton's legacy will finally be celebrated in the rafters of TBA, as the jersey retirement has been a long time coming.
The VFL becomes Tennessee's fifth men's basketball player to be permanently honored in the TBA rafters. He joins Bernard King, Ernie Grunfeld, Allan Houston and Dale Ellis.
"As a recovering basketball player/coach myself—and having worked in college athletics since the early 2000s—I am extremely familiar with what an outstanding player Chris Lofton was during his time here," Tennessee Vice Chancellor/Director of Athletics Danny White said. "Having now learned more about his incredible work ethic, the adversity he overcame and the amazing character he displayed—and continues to display—I can't wait to experience Thompson-Boling Arena when we unveil his banner in the rafters."
Lofton played for the Volunteers from 2004-2008, earning All-America honors in three of his four seasons. He scored an incredible 2,131 career points that still stands as the fourth-most in program history.
"It's remarkable what a legacy Chris left here at Tennessee," Vols head coach said. "Since I've been here, I can't count the number of fans who have told me Chris Lofton stories. And I know all too well the type of shot-maker he was in the game's biggest moments. He's extremely deserving of this prestigious recognition."
Lofton left Rocky Top as one of the most prolific three-point shooters in NCAA history. He made more than 100 threes in each of his sophomore, junior and senior seasons and finished his career at UT as the all-time SEC leader in three pointers made with 431–a record that still stands. The 431 career made threes ranked third in NCAA Division I history when he left Tennessee, per UT Athletics.
His .422 career-3-point percentage is the second-highest all-time by a Vol, and he owns the program record for triples made in a game (9) as well as the top two single-season totals for three-point makes (118 in 2007-08 and 114 in 2005-06).
Lofton's performance in his senior season saw the VFL earn a spot on the 2008 Wooden All-America Team. Lofton started all 36 games as a senior and led the team in scoring with 15.5 ppg. and three-point shooting with a .384 percentage, heavily assisting the Vols reach the No. 1 ranking in the AP Poll for the first time in program history. Lofton's encouraging senior year became even more impressive once news broke following the season that he was battling cancer and receiving treatments leading up to the first game. Lofton was diagnosed at the end of his junior year and quietly fought through radiation treatments in the offseason.
Lofton's best season came during his junior year, when the VFL captured the 2007 SEC Player of the Year award and the SEC's scoring title with a career-best 20.8 points per game. Lofton also earned a consensus second-team All-American honor and made the national ballot for the Wooden Award and Naismith Trophy in his career season.
With Lofton's jersey being retired, many UT fans raised the question: 'What happens with Zakai Zeigler?' as the rising sophomore wears number five.
Tennessee answered that question this morning, putting out a video of Lofton's final verdict on if Zeigler can wear his retired number or not for the remainder of his career.
Zeigler and the Vols kickoff their season on Monday, November 7 against Tennessee Tech in Thompson-Boling Arena.
Fourteen games later, the legendary VFL Chris Lofton will be in attendance at TBA to see his jersey hang in the rafters of the building where he became one of the greatest Tennessee Volunteers to play basketball.
