Howell in awe of Lofton's silent battle

By Mike Griffith

Originally published 08:14 p.m., May 1, 2008
Updated 11:39 p.m., May 1, 2008

Jordan Howell remembers returning to the hotel room he shared with Chris Lofton during the 2007 Sweet 16 in San Antonio.

"It was the night we lost to Ohio State, and when I walked in, Chris was crying," said Howell, a fellow senior with Lofton on the University of Tennessee men's basketball team last season. "As soon as I walked in, he wiped his eyes real quick and acted like nothing was wrong.

"I thought he was crying because we lost."

Howell didn't find out until January that Lofton's Texas tears came after he was informed that he might have cancer.

Lofton underwent surgery on March 28, 2007, and later underwent four weeks of radiation treatment for testicular cancer through May.

"It's amazing; I just never knew about it when it was happening," said Howell, the only UT player to know about Lofton's cancer until recently. "Chris lived with me, and he was working out every day and going through everything with us in the mornings."

Howell said he noticed Lofton's weightlifting numbers and weight dropping in the offseason.

"I just thought maybe he wasn't eating right," he said.

UT coach Bruce Pearl knew better.

"Chris wasn't as big, his numbers were down, and he wasn't as explosive as before because he had been on the shelf," Pearl said. "Watching him continue to work hard with the team was amazing, but that's just Chris.

"He needs to outwork people and know that no one is working as hard as him. Every time he shoots, he knows he has paid the price for that shot, and that's what enables him to expect the next one is going down."

Howell said Lofton tried to break the news to him numerous times before finally consulting with their college pastor around Christmas.

"Chris told me every time he'd start to tell me, he would get choked up and couldn't spit it out," Howell said. "Finally, we went to a dinner together in January, and he told me. I cried all night."

Howell said he kept a journal throughout the past season, and many of his entries involved Lofton's silent battle with cancer.

"I just could not believe he was going through all of this, and he just refused to make excuses when he wasn't shooting as good early in the season," Howell said. "When people said he was in a slump, I wanted to just say: 'Be quiet! You don't know what he's going through.' "

Howell said it's his hope that Lofton's story will inspire other people who have or have had cancer, and that any NBA teams would do well to draft him.

"This is a guy everyone should want on their team," Howell said. "He truly is the hardest worker I have ever seen, and he's a guy who has fought his whole life, even through cancer."