Packer: Howell won't forget Lofton

Jordan Howell is concerned about a legacy that will be left with Tennessee basketball. It's not his legacy that he's worried about, it's the legacy of his best friend, Chris Lofton.

"I want to make sure that no one ever forgets what Chris did for the Tennessee program," Howell said. "I called Chris, who's playing right now in Turkey, and told him that I wanted to come up with a line of T-shirts to honor him. He said that he didn't want to bring the cancer stuff up again because it's still fresh in his mind and he'd kind of like to move past that.

"What we came up with is a T-shirt that will honor what he did as a person and an athlete at UT. On the front, it has a picture of Chris with the phrase, 'For the win.' Right now, we're only selling them at Swaggers (corner of Lyons View and Kingston Pike). It's not a big money-making venture, it's just a way to keep his name alive."

Howell's keeping busy trying to figure out exactly what he wants to do with his life, now that basketball is over.

"It's been a reality check for me," he said. "You have to realize that basketball was my life, until it ended at the end of last season. Every day, I would try to figure out when I would have a few minutes to shoot. I had to get my free throws in each day. That was the most important thing was finding time to get my shots. Now, all of a sudden, that has ended and it's time to go out into the real world and start making a living."

Howell has interviewed for a number of jobs, trying to find exactly what he's called to do.

"I've had a number of interviews and have met a lot of great people," Howell said. "The Tennessee family has been great to me and I appreciate that. I may go back to school and work in sports administration for the university. Coach (Bruce) Pearl and I have talked a number of times about those options."

Howell was a sharp-shooting guard out of Alabama who grew up an Auburn fan.

"I kind of had to grow up an Auburn fan because everyone in my family went to Auburn," Howell said. "When it came time for me to decide where I wanted to go, I wanted to get out of Alabama. Those people take the Auburn-Alabama rivalry a bit far sometimes and I didn't want to have any part of it."

Howell originally signed with Georgia. But, when coach Jim Harrick was fired, Howell asked out of his letter of intent.

"It was a process to get out of that," Howell said. "I had to meet with the new head coach and the athletic director before they would release me. They finally did, but it was an eye-opening experience."

When the recruiting opened up again, Tennessee came in and won him over.

"They didn't promise me anything and I was kind of intrigued by that," Howell said. "I'm the kind of person that I don't want anything given to me. I want to have to earn whatever I get."

His freshman season with coach Buzz Peterson was trying.

"I didn't play much and started to wonder if I was ever going to play," said Howell. "When Coach Pearl came in before my sophomore year it was like a new beginning for me. I was given a new chance. I had considered transferring, like a number of us did. But, after we met Pearl for the first time, we all knew that we wanted to stay."

Howell learned a lot from Pearl, so much that he's trying to share some of that knowledge.

"I am looking for a job, but in the meantime I'm coaching the King's Academy Middle School boys," Howell said. "I went in the first day and thought I'd put in our press from UT and some plays. I had this idea that I could go in and teach them all this stuff in a day. Yeah, that didn't happen. We ended up passing the ball up against the wall because I had to teach them the fundamentals of passing.

"We have our first game this week and I'm excited. I wouldn't say I'm nervous because the pressure isn't that high. They've won one game in four years, so I think the only way for us to go is up."

Howell sees himself in Knoxville for a long time to come.

"I guess 15 years from now I see myself married (although he wanted to make it clear he doesn't have a girlfriend) with kids and a job to where I can stay committed to them," Howell said. "Knoxville is my home now, and I hope it always will be. I really like it here and I've made a lot of friends over the years."

His best friend is on the other side of the world playing basketball. But, if Howell has anything to do with it, no one will ever forget his name.

Mark Packer hosts the Locker Room, presented by Parkwest Medical Center, on Sunday at 10 p.m. on MyVLT2.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
Want to use this article? Click here for options!