University of Tennessee Athletics
2004-05 Men's Basketball Roster
Roster
Lofton, Chris
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Jersey Number 5
Chris Lofton
- Height:
- 6-2
- Weight:
- 195
- Class:
- Sophomore
- Hometown:
- Maysville, Ky.
- High School:
- Mason County HS
Bio
CAREER HIGHS
- Points: 35 // vs. Texas, 12/23/06
- Rebounds: 11 // vs. Texas, 12/23/06
- Assists: 7 (2x) // vs. Middle Tennessee, 11/20/07
- Steals: 5 (4x) // last vs. Florida, 2/5/08
- Blocks: 2 // vs. Butler, 11/22/06
- Field Goals: 12 (2x) // last vs. Memphis, 12/6/06
- 3-Pointers: 9 (school record) // at Georgia, 2/11/06
- Free Throws: 13 // vs. ETSU, 12/30/06
- Minutes: 38 (2x) // last vs. Texas. 12/23/06
On Jan. 14, 2023, Lofton became the fifth Vol ever to be honored with jersey retirement when his No. 5 was raised to the Thompson-Boling Arena rafters.
CAREER STATS
HONORS
- Kentucky High School Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2014
- Tennessee Basketball All-Century Team (1909-2009)
- 2008 All-America First Team (John R. Wooden Award)
- 2008 All-America Second Team (NABC, USBWA)
- 2008 All-America Third Team (Associated Press)
- 2008 NABC Career Achievement Award
- 2008 All-SEC First Team (Associated Press, Coaches)
- 2008 NABC All-District First Team
- 2008 USBWA All-District Team
- SEC Player of the Week (Feb. 11, 2008)
- 2007 All-America Second Team (NCAA Consensus, Associated Press, The Sporting News, Basketball Times)
- 2007 All-America Third Team (NABC)
- 2007 SEC Player of the Year (Associated Press)
- 2007 All-SEC First Team (Associated Press, Coaches)
- 2006 USBWA District Player of the Year
- 2007 NABC All-District First Team
- 2007 SEC Community Service Team
- ESPN.com National Player of the Week (Dec. 26, 2006)
- Dick Vitale co-National Player of the Week (Dec. 11, 2006)
- SEC Player of Week (Dec. 24, 2006)
- SEC Player of Week (Dec. 11, 2006)
- SEC Player of Week (Nov. 20, 2006)
- 2006 All-America Second Team (The Sporting News, FOXSports.com, Scout.com)
- 2006 All-America Third Team (NABC)
- 2006 All-America Honorable Mention (Associated Press)
- 2006 USBWA District Player of the Year
- 2006 NABC All-District First Team
- 2006 All-SEC First Team (Associated Press, Coaches)
- 2006 Basketball Times All-South Team
- National Player of the Week, Feb. 13, 2006 (ESPN.com, FOXSports.com)
- SEC Player of the Week (Feb. 13, 2006)
- SEC Player of the Week (Jan. 23, 2006)
- SEC Player of the Week (Dec. 19, 2005)
- 2005 Freshman All-America Team Third Team (Rivals.com)
- 2005 SEC All-Freshman Team
PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL
- Enjoyed a 10-year professional basketball career in Spain, Russia, Turkey, France, Lithuania and South Korea.
- Led Le Mans Sarthe to the 2016 French Cup championship and earned French Cup Finals MVP honors.
2007-08 - SENIOR
- VIDEO: Lofton Career Highlights
- After enduring cancer radiation treatments during the offseason, he started all 36 games for the Vols and led the team in scoring (15.5 ppg) and 3-point percentage (.384) while shooting 118 of 307 from beyond the arc.
- Finished his career as the SEC's all-time 3-point king, with an unprecedented 431 career makes.
- Stood as Tennessee's fourth all-time leading scorer at the conclusion of his career, with 2,131 points.
- One of five Wooden Award finalists, Lofton earned a spot on the 2008 John R. Wooden Award All-American Team.
- Second-team All-American (NABC, USBWA).
- Third-team All-American (Associated Press).
- Recipient of the prestigious NABC Career Achievement Award.
- A 2007-08 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award finalist, he was named a first-team Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award All-Senior All-American.
- First-team All-SEC (Associated Press, Coaches).
- Selected as an NABC and USBWA All-District honoree.
- Led the SEC in free-throw percentage with an 84.2 percent success rate from the charity stripe.
- Also led the SEC in 3-pointers attempted, with 307.
- His 118 3-pointers made and average of 3.28 3-point makes per game both ranked second among SEC players.
- Closed out his legendary career with a team-high 15 points as the Vols fell to Louisville, 79-60, in the Sweet Sixteen in Charlotte.
- On Senior Day against South Carolina (3/9/08), made six 3-pointers and scored a game-high 28 points.
- Scored 21 points and hit four 3-pointers during Tennessee's 89-86 win at Florida (3/5/08).
- Became the sixth Vol in program history to reach the 2,000-career-point mark at Vanderbilt (2/26/08).
- Started and hit two free throws in the closings second to seal No. 2 Tennessee's road win over top-ranked and previously undefeated Memphis (2/23/08).
- Scored 20 or more points in each game of a five-game stretch spanning late January and early February, with a high of 27 points during Tennessee's home win over Georgia (1/26/08).
- Made four 3-pointers to help push the sixth-ranked Vols past Ohio State in Knoxville (1/19/08).
- Tallied a game-high 19 points to help the Vols secure a win over West Virginia (11/23/07) at the Legends Classic in Newark, N.J.
SUMMER 2007
- Attended the Kobe Bryant Skills Academy in Santa Ana, California.
- Was invited to tryout for the USA Men’s Pan American Games Team in Philadelphia.
2006-07 - JUNIOR
- Consensus second-team All-American (Associated Press, Sporting News, SI.com, Basketball Times, Rivals.com, Collegehoops.net).
- Third-team All-American (NABC).
- SEC Player of the Year (Associated Press, Dick Vitale-ESPN.com).
- First-team All-SEC (Associated Press, Coaches).
- Second-team Dick Vitale’s All-Solid Gold PTP’ers.
- Made the national ballot for the Wooden Award and Naismith Trophy.
- Named USBWA District Player of the Year and was an NABC first-team All-District performer.
- Rated the nation’s top shooting guard by Rivals.com in its College Basketball Power Rankings.
- Led the SEC with 20.8 points and 3.42 3-pointers per game while ranking fourth in the league with an 81.1 free-throw percentage.
- Ranked 15th in the nation in scoring (20.8), 10th in 3-pointers per game (3.4) and 36th in 3-point percentage (41.9).
- His 106 3-pointers made, 253 3-point attempts and 3.42 3-pointers per game ranked second on Tennessee's single-season charts.
- His 645 points scored ranked 11th on UT’s single-season lists.
- Scored 30 or more points six times.
- Made at least five 3-pointers in a game nine times on the year.
- Owned two of the top three scoring performances in the SEC during the 2006-07 season.
- Hours after Tennessee's season-ending loss to Ohio State in the Sweet Sixteen, Lofton was diagnosed with cancer.
- Sank six consecutive free throws in the final 20 seconds of Tennessee’s 77-74 NCAA Tournament second-round win over Virginia (3/18/07).
- His 300th career 3-pointer made also scored his 1,500th career point against LSU in the SEC Tournament (3/8/07).
- Tied a school record by going 13-of-13 at the free-throw line in a 28-point effort against ETSU (12/30/06).
- Scored 28 of his career-high 35 points after halftime to lead the Vols from a 17-point second-half deficit to a thrilling, 111-105 overtime win over National Player of the Year Kevin Durant and Texas (12/23/06).
- Became the 39th player in Tennessee history to score 1,000 career points when he reached the milestone against Butler at the NIT Season Tip-Off in New York City (11/22/06).
2005-06 - SOPHOMORE
- A Wooden Award Finalist, he led the Vols in scoring (17.2 ppg), 3-point percentage (.437), 3-point makes (114), field-goal makes (174), steals per game (2.0 spg) and minutes (31.9 mpg).
- Second-team All-American (The Sporting News, FOXSports.com and Scout.com).
- Third-team All-America (NABC and Rivals.com).
- Honorable mention All-American (Associated Press).
- USBWA District IV Player of the Year and also was a first-team NABC All-District 7 performer.
- First team All-SEC (Associated Press and Coaches).
- Named to the Basketball Times All-South Team.
- ESPN.com and FOXSports.com National Player of the Week (2/13/06).
- Three-time SEC Player of the Week (12/19/05, 1/23/06 and 2/13/06).
- Named the SEC's best shooter in a poll of SEC players conducted by Sports Illustrated.
- Named the SEC's 'Most Valuable Player' by CollegeInsider.com (3/1/06).
- Rewrote Tennessee's single-season record books in 2005-06 with his 3-point shooting.
- Broke school single-season records for 3-pointers made (114), 3-pointers attempted (261) and 3-pointers per game (3.80 pg).
- Broke Allan Houston's school record of eight 3-pointers in a game when he made nine (9-of-12) at Georgia (2/11/06).
- His 18 3-point attempts against Wichita State in the NCAA Tournament (3/18/06) broke UT's single-game record.
- His 114 3-pointers made ranked second and his 261 3-point attempts in a season ranked sixth in Southeastern Conference history.
- Shot 43.7 percent (114-of-261) from 3-point range, the third-best percentage in school history.
- Lofton's 60 steals tied for fifth, while his 2.0 steals per game tied for sixth on UT's single-season lists.
- Led Tennessee and ranked fourth in the Southeastern Conference with 17.2 points per game.
- His 18.1 points per game against SEC opponents ranked third in the league.
- Led the SEC in 3-pointers per game (3.80 pg) and was third in 3-point percentage (43.7 percent).
- Through his first two seasons, he hit at least one 3-pointer in 59 of 61 career games.
- Shot a team-best 91.7 percent (55-of-60) from the free-throw line.
- Hit 38 consecutive free throws (1/11/06 - 3/4/06), one short of tying the UT record.
- In a four-game span from Feb. 7-18, he averaged 27.8 points per game on 70.7 percent (29-of-41) 3-point shooting.
- Over that four-game stretch, he averaged 7.25 3-point makes per game.
- Scored a then-career-high 33 points, hitting a school-record nine 3-pointers at Georgia (2/11/06).
- Erupted for 31 points, hitting seven 3-pointers and scoring seven points in the final two minutes to preserve the win at Kentucky (2/7/06).
- His 31 points against Kentucky tied for the most ever by a Vol at Rupp Arena (Dale Ellis in 1983 and Allan Houston in 1993).
- Scored 29 points (18 in the first half), grabbed six rebounds, had three steals and three assists in the win over second-ranked Florida (1/21/06).
- Hit five 3-pointers while scoring a game-high 21 points in Tennessee's 95-78 win at sixth-ranked Texas (12/17/05).
2004-05 - FRESHMAN
- Third-team selection on the 2004-05 Rivals.com Freshman All-America Team.
- Named to the SEC All-Freshman team that is selected by the league's coaches.
- His 93 3-pointers made ranked second on Tennessee's single-season list and were the most ever by an SEC freshman (breaking Chris Jackson's [LSU] SEC freshman record of 84 in 1988-89.
- His 3.00 3-pointers per game broke Allan Houston's school record of 2.91 triples per game, set during the 1990-91 season.
- His 3.00 3-pointers per game also led the SEC and ranked 22nd nationally in 2004-05.
- His 46.5 percent (93-of-200) 3-point shooting on the season ranked second all-time on UT's single-season charts; it also led the SEC and ranked fourth nationally in 2004-05.
- Became just the second freshman in league history to lead the SEC in 3-point percentage (Alabama's Terrence Meade led the SEC by shooting 42.3 percent in 2000).
- His 13.2 points per game ranked second on the Tennessee roster and 18th in the SEC; it was the third-highest scoring average among SEC freshmen.
- In conference games, he led the team and ranked ninth in the SEC with 14.8 points per game.
- Scored 20 or more points five times and led the Vols in scoring a team-high 11 times.
- Made five or more 3-pointers in a game eight times.
- Ranked second on the team with 40 steals.
- Scored a season-high 30 points on 7-of-14 shooting from 3-point range at Arkansas (2/26/05).
- His 30 points against Arkansas were the most by a Tennessee freshman since Allan Houston had 31 in March 1990.
- His seven 3-pointers against South Carolina (2/23/05) and at Arkansas (2/26/05) tied for the most by a player in SEC games.
- Scored 25 points on 7-of-13 3-point shooting against South Carolina (2/23/05).
- Registered a season-high eight rebounds against Nebraska (12/30/04).
- Tied a school record for 3-point percentage by going 5-of-5 from behind the arc at New Mexico (12/18/04).
- In just his second collegiate game, he scored 22 points on 6-of-10 shooting from behind the 3-point arc against 11th-ranked North Carolina (11/23/04) at the Maui Invitational.
- Started his collegiate debut against Stanford at the Maui Invitational to open Tennessee's 2004-05 season and finished with five points, four rebounds and two assists in 26 minutes (shot 1-of-4 from 3-point range); the Vols defeated the Cardinal, 69-57.
HIGH SCHOOL
- Graduated from Mason County High School in Maysville, Kentucky, where he was coached by Kelly Wells.
- Earned Kentucky's Mr. Basketball honors as a senior in 2004.
- Became the third Kentucky Mr. Basketball to sign with the Vols, joining Allan Houston (1989) and Jermaine Brown (1991).
- 2004 Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year and Associated Press Player of the Year
- Also was a 2004 McDonald's All-America nominee.
- Finished his career with a school-record 2,763 points.
- When his high school career ended, he ranked third all-time in Kentucky history with 252 points in 10 career state tournament games.
- Scored 41 points in the Kentucky-Indiana Boys' All-Star Game in Owensboro, Kentucky, to tie Indiana's Oscar Robertson (1956) for third-highest single-game total in the series.
- His 41 points in the 89-81 Kentucky win over Indiana were just one short of tying the record for a Kentucky player.
- Earned tournament MVP honors while leading Mason County to the school's first state title as a junior in 2003.
- Recorded a state tournament record with nine 3-pointers (9-of-12) in a 39-point performance in the 2003 state championship game.
- Also led Mason County to the state championship game as a senior in 2004.
- Led the Royals to 10th Region titles in all three of his seasons on the varsity team.
- Made 46.2 percent (353-of-764) of his career 3-point attempts.
- While leading the Royals to a 33-3 record, he averaged 26.7 points, 7.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 3.2 steals as a senior.
- Averaged 21.1 points and 5.2 rebounds while totaling 104 assists and 97 steals in leading Mason County to a 35-2 record as a junior.
- Won the 3-point shooting contest at the prestigious Derby Festival Basketball Classic in Louisville.
- Also was a standout wide receiver for the Mason County football team and had his football jersey retired in 2004.
- Led the state with 20 touchdown receptions and ranked third in the state with 116.0 receiving yards per game as a senior in 2004.
- Finished his senior campaign on the gridiron with 74 receptions for 1,624 yards and 20 TDs.
PERSONAL
- Full name is Christopher Franklin Lofton
- Born March 27, 1986, in Maysville, Kentucky
- Son of Franklin and Kathleen Lofton
- Graduated with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies in 2010.
- Stores in Maysville, Kentucky, began selling No. 5 Tennessee basketball jerseys during his UT career.
- His popularity in his hometown is rivaled only by fellow Maysville area natives the Clooneys (George and Rosemary) and Miss America 2000 (Heather French).
The greatest 3-point shooter in SEC history.
— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) September 15, 2022
The Lofton Legacy. pic.twitter.com/MwmzJRuXXv
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