Tennessee guard Zakai Zeigler was awarded the 2023-2024 SEC Defensive Player of the Year award on Monday afternoon.
Zeigler’s award was announced exactly one year and 12 days after suffering a torn ACL at the end of the 2023 regular season that forced him to miss all of the postseason tournament action.
Zeigler’s resiliency, toughness, and fortitude helped him return to the court alongside his teammates during the 2023-2024 season and came back better than ever.
“He is just invaluable with what he does,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said of Zeigler after the Vols’ win over Texas A&M in late February. “He is a special player.”
The 5-foot-9, 171-pound guard from Long Island, NY, achieved a career-high this season in minutes (30.7 MPG), FG percentage (40.4%), 3-point percentage (35.3%), assists (6.0 APG), and points (11.6 PPG).
From a defensive perspective, Zeigler was terrific for Tennessee as a menace on the perimeter for 30 minutes of each game this season. Zeigler recorded 58 steals on the season for an average of 1.9 per game and also threw in three blocks throughout the season. No matter the height difference on the court, Zeigler found ways to pester and frustrate opposing guards like he has his whole career.
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Tennessee has been known for its defensive presence under head coach Rick Barnes, which fits Zeigler’s style perfectly on a day-to-day basis. Zeigler’s energy is unmatched in practice when on the defensive end of the court. Zeigler often works with fellow guard Jordan Gainey during one-on-one drills in practice but has all the talent in the world to practice against with scorers such as Gainey and Dalton Knecht, a shifty guard such as Santiago Vescovi, and a fellow defensive guru like Jahmai Mashack.
Zeigler practices as he plays, which shows up in the games consistently through the season.
Zakai Zeigler is the first Tennessee player to win the SEC Defensive Player of the Year award since Yves Pons did so following the 2019-2020 season. Alabama’s Herb Jones won in 2021, Auburn’s Walker Kessler won in 2022, and Vanderbilt’s Liam Robbins won in 2023.
The SEC DPotY honor wasn’t the only recognition that Tennessee’s junior guard received on Monday, though. Zeigler also landed as a First Team All-SEC selection alongside Tennessee guard and SEC Player of the Year Dalton Knecht. Tennessee forward Jonas Aidoo landed as a Second Team All-SEC selection on Monday as well.
“Well God is great,” Zeigler said this season about returning to the court after the ACL injury in 2023. “That’s all I can really say, you know it was tough, you know, last year going down but fought through adversity, the people around me, they just picked me up and God is great. That’s all I can really say to that.”
