He beat Kentucky. He beat Florida. He beat Memphis. Chris Lofton and the rest of the Tennessee basketball team beat many teams during his four years in Knoxville.

You can add one more thing to that list…cancer.

In an interview with ESPN.com’s Chris Low, Lofton revealed that he was diagnosed with testicular cancer just a few days after the Vols crushing loss to Ohio State in the 2006-2007 Sweet 16. He spent nearly a month going through radiation treatments that left him sick and weak. At at time when most basketball players are shooting or working out in the gym, Chris was vomiting and bedridden.

But he fought back, though struggling early, and led his team to an SEC Championship, number 1 ranking, Sweet 16 birth, and the most wins in school history. His numbers may not have been the same this season (now we know why), but he was there when his team needed him the most, averaging nearly 18 points a game in SEC play.

People throw out the word “hero” all the time when someone makes an important shot, gets a big hit, or scores the winning touchdown. Chris Lofton was already a basketball hero in Tennessee. And while he’ll definitely be remembered for his greatness on the court (see below), he turned out to be so much more.

He literally is an inspiration to us all. He silently fought this disease basically on his own, not wanting to cause a distraction for his teammates. He shrugged off criticism from the media and even Vol fans. He just smiled and left everything he had on the court when many others would have just quit.

Personally, I am proud to have attended the same university as this fine, young man. Tennessee could not ask for a better representative. Plus, there hasn’t been a player more important to the program since the Ernie and Bernie era. Number 5 deserves to be immortalized in the rafters of Thomson-Boling Arena right there next to 53 and 22.