Lennay Kekua makes Maxim Hot 100

Published May. 9, 2013 1:00 a.m. ET

Sam Gardner

In a TV interview shortly after the death of longtime girlfriend Lennay Kekua, former Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o referred to Kekua as "the most beautiful girl I've ever met."

Kekua, of course, turned out not to be real, and Te’o’s admission that he’d been duped by an elaborate online prank ended up making international headlines (and, perhaps, dropping him to the second round of the NFL Draft).

That didn’t stop Maxim magazine from including Kekua in its annual Hot 100 list, however, where it ranked the non-existent girlfriend at No. 69 — yes, ahead of 31 other actual beautiful women:

Maxim’s justification for the ranking?

“After Manti Te'o's fake girlfriend hoax of 2012, we think it might be nice to have an invisible girl of our own to love. Why not? She's got a ton of great qualities, including looking awesome in a bikini.”