A little more than a year after having his No. 5 jersey raised on a banner inside Food City Center, former Tennessee basketball star Chris Lofton joined more elite company Wednesday.

Lofton was one of 14 former players named to the 2024 SEC Legends class, the league announced.

The class will be officially recognized during the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament in Nashville on March 13-17.

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A prolific shooter who arrived at Tennessee by way of Maysville, Kentucky in 2004, Lofton re-wrote the record books during his four seasons in Knoxville.

Lofton totaled 2,131 career points, the fourth-most by a player in program history. He connected on more than 100 3-pointers as a freshman, sophomore and junior and totaled 431 in his career, which placed him as the three-point shots made leader at both Tennessee and in the SEC all-time.

That number ranks third overall in NCAA Division I history.

Lofton, who built a reputation for hitting shots in clutch moments, garnered Associated Press All-America honors for three-consecutive years and was named the SEC Player of the Year in 2007.

Lofton was diagnosed with cancer following his junior campaign in 2008 and received treatments during the offseason, which was disclosed from the public until after his senior season.

In his final season with the Vols, Lofton started all 36 games and helped Tennessee reach the No. 1 ranking in the AP Top 25 for the first time in school history during the regular season while finishing as one of five finalists for the John R. Wooden Player of the Year Award.

Among Lofton's career highlights were hitting a go-ahead 3-pointer over Kevin Durant late in the second half of Tennessee's 111-105 overtime win over a Rick Barnes-coached Texas team on Dec. 23, 2006.

Lofton kept the Vols' first and only NCAA Tournament Elite Eight run alive with a improbable corner three off of an inbound pass with less than three seconds left to beat Winthrop in the opening round in 2006.

Lofton played professionally for 10 years overseas in Spain, Russia, Turkey, France, Lithuania and South Korea. He helped Le Mans Sarthe win the French Cup Championship in 2016, earning French Cup Finals MVP honors.

Tennessee officially retired Lofton's No. 5 jersey in a halftime ceremony during the Vols' game against Kentucky on Jan. 14, 2023. He is one five former Tennessee players to have their jerseys retired, joining Bernard King, Ernie Grunfeld, Allan Houston and Dale Ellis.

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