In August 2008 basketball graduate assistant Brooks Savage, who began his affiliation with the basketball team as a freshman student manager under Coach Buzz Peterson, had an idea for a fund-raising program that would allow UT’s basketball program to honor Chris Lofton and others associated with the program and raise money for cancer research and treatment. (Chris Lofton’s announcement following the 2007–8 season that he had battled and beaten testicular cancer during his final season was followed by the death of Tyler Smith’s father as a result of cancer.)
Savage discussed with his parents, and then with Bruce Pearl, his idea to create a program drawing on UT’s FUTure branding campaign to raise funds for and awareness of cancer. He presented a business plan to the Athletics Department administration in fall 2008. The administration approved the plan, as did Lofton and Smith. UT Medical Center’s Cancer Institute was fully on board. In January 2009 Bruce Pearl announced the start of the OUTLIVE program, with funds raised to go to UT Medical Center’s Cancer Institute.
Pearl himself purchased three thousand T-shirts, which were given to students attending the January 30th UT-Florida basketball game. A “white-out” of fans wearing white shirts (preferably OUTLIVE T-shirts) took place for the game, which was broadcast nationally by ESPN.
The T-shirts for the first OUTLIVE game had the OUTLIVE logo and the words Tennessee Fights to Beat Cancer on the front. On the back, in large orange letters, was a quote from Lofton that read “You’re going to get knocked down. It’s whether you stay down or whether you get back up and fight that counts.” Lofton’s jersey number and signature followed the quote.
Pearl announced that his goal was to raise $1 million through the program in five years.
The 2009 OUTLIVE game coincided with the Coaches vs. Cancer game. Coaches vs. Cancer began with the University of Missouri’s former men’s head basketball coach Norm Stewart, a cancer survivor and member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches. The program became affiliated with the American Cancer Society in 1998. In that program coaches across the country wear distinctive sneakers and shirts. The program was originally set up to request that people donate $1 to cancer research and treatment for every three points made by their team.