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Chris Lofton

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Chris Lofton
Chris Lofton
Free Agent
PositionGuard
Personal information
Born (1986-03-27) March 27, 1986 (age 38)
Maysville, Kentucky
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight195 lb (88 kg)
Career information
High schoolMason County
(Maysville, Kentucky)
CollegeTennessee (2004–2008)
NBA draft2008: undrafted
Playing career2008–present
Career history
2008–2009Mersin BB
2009Caja Laboral
2009–2010Estudiantes
2010–2011Iowa Energy
2011–2012Lokomotiv Kuban
2012Estudiantes
2012–2013Lagun Aro GBC
2013–2015Beşiktaş
2015–2016Le Mans Sarthe
2017Neptūnas Klaipėda
2017–2018Le Mans Sarthe
2019Seoul SK Knights
Career highlights and awards

Christopher Franklin Lofton (born March 27, 1985) is an American professional basketball player. He played college basketball with the University of Tennessee Volunteers.

High school

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Chris Lofton is from Maysville, Kentucky, where he led the Mason County Royals (his high school basketball team) to a victory in the 2003 State Championships and led the Royals back to the state championship game the next year. Despite being named Mr. Basketball his senior year, Lofton was not recruited by Louisville or Kentucky. He was recruited by University of Tennessee coach Buzz Peterson and subsequently chose to play for the Vols.

College

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As a freshman, Lofton made third team All-America at Tennessee. Against the University of Georgia on February 11, 2006, he made a school record 9 three-point shots en route to a career-high 33 points in an 83–78 win.[1] On December 23, 2006, he scored a new career-high 35 points in a 111–105 overtime victory against the University of Texas.[2] For the 2005–2006 season, Lofton was selected as a second team All-America.

In the 2006–07 season, Lofton led the conference in scoring, with 20.8 points per game, and was named the SEC Player of the Year by the Associated Press.[3] He led the Tennessee Volunteers to the Sweet 16 in the 2007 NCAA basketball tournament. He was again named Second-team All-American for the 2006–07 season. During the summer after the 06–07 season, Lofton went to Kobe Bryant camp and tried out for the Pan Am USA team.

Instead of declaring for the 2007 NBA draft, Lofton announced that he would return to Knoxville for his senior season. Lofton was featured on the cover of the November 21, 2007 Sports Illustrated[4] issue, holding a basketball away from Chris Douglas-Roberts of the University of Memphis. Sports Illustrated picked Tennessee 3rd in the country and Lofton as a 1st Team All-American. On December 19, 2007, Lofton passed Allan Houston to become first on Tennessee's list for most three-point field goals made. Houston had held the record with 346 three-pointers made. On January 22, 2008, Lofton passed Pat Bradley of the University of Arkansas to capture the record for the most career three-pointers in the Southeastern Conference with 367. His final three-pointer came vs. Louisville in the Sweet 16 of the 2008 NCAA Tournament, a game which Tennessee lost 79–60. Lofton was also selected to Third Team All-America for his senior season.

Pro career

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In July 2008, Lofton signed a one-year contract with Mersin Büyükşehir Belediyesi of the Turkish Basketball League.[5] On February 8, 2009, he scored 47 points (on 13/20 3-pointers) in a win against Fenerbahçe Ülker.[6] On April 25, 2009, he scored 61 points (on 17/22 3-pointers) in a win against CASA TED Kolejliler.[7] In June 2009, it was announced that Lofton had been asked to play for the Boston Celtics summer league team.[8] In the season 2009–10, Chris Lofton was signed by Spanish ACB League powerhouse, Caja Laboral Baskonia.[9] After only a few games played, Lofton left Caja Laboral; he had previously been hospitalized with fever.[10] Soon after, Lofton signed with another Spanish team CB Estudiantes.[11] In November 2010, he was selected 6th overall by the Iowa Energy in the NBA D-League Draft.[12] He has since chosen to return to Europe. In March 2011 he signed with Lokomotiv Kuban in Russia,[13] but left the team in May 2011 by mutual agreement.[14] In August 2011 he returned to CB Estudiantes, signing a one-year deal[15] but finally he couldn't play with the team of Madrid until January 2012 because of his physical problems.

In August 2012, Lofton signed with Basque squad Lagun Aro GBC, but one month later left the team due to an injury in his left knee.[16] On August 17, 2013, he signed a one-year deal with Beşiktaş.[17] On July 18, 2014, he extended his contract with Beşiktaş for one more season.[18] On February 22, 2017, Lofton signed with Neptūnas Klaipėda of the Lithuanian Basketball League.[19]

On November 1, 2017, he signed with Le Mans Sarthe.[20]

Now currently playing for the KBL (Korean Basketball League) with the Seoul SK Knights.

Cancer

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Following the end of the 2007 season, Lofton was diagnosed with testicular cancer, which he kept a secret to all but Bruce Pearl, his parents, and a small number of university officials. Not until over halfway through the 2007–2008 season did Lofton even tell his roommate and teammate Jordan Howell, who was the only player to know.[21] He was diagnosed after failing a random drug screen during the 2007 NCAA tournament. The failed test turned out to be the result of a tumor marker.[21] Afterward, he underwent successful radiation treatments and surgery and is now considered cancer-free.[22]

Awards and accomplishments

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  • 2007 SEC Player Of The Year

See also

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Notes and references

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  1. ^ Lofton hits nine threes, No. 14 Tennessee escapes at Georgia Archived January 15, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Lofton lifts Vols over Horns in overtime Knoxville shootout Archived March 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "AP All-SEC Men's Basketball team announces". Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved March 19, 2007.
  4. ^ "SI.com - Sports Illustrated Covers - Nov. 21, 2007 - SI's 2007–08 College Basketball Preview" Archived May 20, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "He is the best basketball player to come out of college in the last 10 years." - Dick Vitale Lofton has an option to play in Turkey Archived November 27, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Fenerbahçe couldn't stop Lofton. (in Turkish) Archived February 11, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Chris Lofton şov! (in Turkish)
  8. ^ Lofton to play for Celtic's in NBA's summer league. Archived February 22, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ "Lofton joins pro team in Spain" Archived July 30, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, The Daily Beacon, October 14, 2009. Retrieved on 2009-11-16.
  10. ^ "Caja Laboral: Lofton leaves, Micov extended - Latest - Welcome to EUROLEAGUE BASKETBALL". Archived from the original on October 8, 2012. Retrieved January 10, 2010.
  11. ^ http://www.hotfeeder.com/sports/chris_lofton_signed_with_estudiantes_2283613 [permanent dead link‍]
  12. ^ "Iowa Energy Select Chris Lofton Sixth in D-League Draft -- NBA FanHouse". Archived from the original on December 8, 2010. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
  13. ^ Energy Guard Chris Lofton Signs in Russia Archived October 7, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ «Локомотив-Кубань» расторг контракт с Крисом Лофтоном [permanent dead link‍] (in Russian)
  15. ^ Asefa Estudiantes tabs scoring machine Chris Lofton Archived April 22, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ Chris Lofton abandona el Lagun Aro GBC debido a una lesión de espalda Archived July 9, 2013, at the Wayback Machine (in Spanish)
  17. ^ "Besiktas signs Chris Lofton". Sportando.net. Archived from the original on September 1, 2013. Retrieved August 18, 2013.
  18. ^ "Besiktas, Lofton one more year". Eurocupbasketball.com. July 18, 2014. Archived from the original on July 26, 2014. Retrieved July 19, 2014.
  19. ^ "Klaipėdos klubas sukirto rankomis su patyrusiu snaiperiu Chrisu Loftonu". www.bcneptunas.lt (in Lithuanian). February 22, 2017. Archived from the original on February 23, 2017. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
  20. ^ Chris Lofton signs with Le Mans Sarthe
  21. ^ a b Lofton kept cancer quiet | www.tennessean.com | The Tennessean [permanent dead link‍]
  22. ^ ESPN – Tennessee's Lofton quietly faced and beat cancer – Men's College Basketball
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