On Chris Lofton, From Someone Who Knows Him

I told myself that I would never write an article on a story that already has a few dozen articles dedicated to it. Forgive me.

My rationale was that once a story has already been done so many times, what can I really add to it? This, however, is a special case.

I know Chris Lofton. No, seriously. I graduated from UT last year, and we used to talk on a fairly regular basis. It's not like we were tight; I haven't spoken to him since I graduated, but I got to know him well enough that I think I can add something unique to the coverage of this story. 

For most of us fans, it's pretty rare to be able to say that we personally know the athlete in question. This is certainly a first for me.

Everything being written on Lofton right now gushes with the glowing praise that he is tough-minded, unselfish, a good person, and a good role model. Everything being written is dead-on.

The first time I met him, it was the start of his sophomore year. I was not impressed. I had heard that he was on the basketball team, but I had just moved to Tennessee, and hadn't followed the team before. I had no idea that a star, a big man on campus, was right in front of me. 

His demeanor certainly gave no hints. He was very soft-spoken; quiet, yet friendly.  Surely if he were any good, he would come off pretty cocky, I thought.  I actually had the audacity to ask him if he was any good. His answer: "I guess."

Over the next few months, we'd talk about once a week. We'd talk a little about the NBA, a lot about classes, and a lot about video games. Whenever he saw me, his first question was always, "Got any new video games?" Seeing as he was probably just a benchwarmer headed nowhere after college, I didn't think much at first of how personable he was being to just another joe on campus like myself. 

After all, he practically was one, too, I had thought.

Eventually, I did a little reading on Chris, and discovered that I had had the good fortune to meet the guy who was expected to become the star of the team. As basketball season started and he began fulfilling those expectations, he didn't change a bit. He was still humble, never talked about himself or his on-court accomplishments. He continued to go out of his way to say hi to me and talk some video games, even if he was with his teammates.

And he continued to struggle in class. We didn't talk much about his childhood in Maysville, but I imagine that somebody recognized his prodigious basketball talents early, and it resulted in a free pass in the classroom. 

The real shame of it was, Chris had never asked for one. I could tell that he was willing to work hard in the classroom, but had just never developed basic study skills. I tried to help him out with a religion class he was taking, I had taken several religious studies courses as an undergrad, and gave him suggestions on how to improve his study habits. 

Each time I did, the next time I saw him, he had taken those suggestions to heart.  When the semester ended, Chris wound up with a B in his religion class. I think both of us were thrilled.

I didn't see him around nearly as much the next year, his junior season, but when I did, we would still talk just the same as the year before. This was one of my favorite exchanges:

Chris: "Got any new video games?"

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