New details coming out about how Tennessee’s Chris Lofton fought a private battle away from the cameras:

But Lofton’s greatest conquest came off the court.

He beat cancer.

The three-time All-American, in an exclusive interview with ESPN.com, revealed for the first time publicly that he played his senior season at Tennessee after undergoing surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from one of his testicles in March 2007.

And from the Sports Illustrated.

“Chris didn’t want it to be a distraction to his teammates, therefore he didn’t tell his teammates,” Pearl said. “And he certainly didn’t want an excuse if he wasn’t playing quite as well as the year before.”

The questions about Lofton’s play from fans and reporters certainly bothered the senior, Pearl said.

The team finally got to a point about halfway through the season where Pearl knew Lofton needed to take more shots and find better ways to get open. So he told Lofton he needed more to keep the team from losing and immediately saw a difference.

In a day of instant media attention, Lofton not only beat the odds in fighting cancer, but also did it privately with the help of family and friends which is amazing indeed.

Rich from Shot Across The Bow also weighs in as well as PTH from Six Meat Buffet.