KNOXVILLE, Tennessee – It was revealed on Monday afternoon that Zakai Zeigler, a member of the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team, is a finalist for the Lefty Driesell Defensive Player of the Year Award.
Zeigler is one of the finalists for the prestigious award for the second consecutive season. For the second year in a row, he was also among the ten semifinalists for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award.
Zeigler has already won awards for SEC Defensive Player of the Year this month. He is the third person under six feet, regardless of school, to receive the award and the second Volunteer to do so.
The Long Island, New York native has 1.82 steals per game, which puts him fourth in the SEC. With 2.11 points per game in conference play, he finished second in the league.
In 16 games this season, Zeigler has recorded multiple steals, including three plus ten and four plus seven. With that ranking, he can be ranked in the top-15 nationally, second in the SEC, and co-seventh among Power Six players.
Zeigler is ranked ninth on Tennessee’s all-time steals list with 62 this season. His 180 steals in three years as a Volunteer put him fifth all-time in the program record books, as well as fifth among active SEC players. Over his career, Zeigler has averaged 1.83 steals per game, ranking second among active SEC players and fourth all-time at Tennessee.
According to College Basketball Reference, Zeigler has the sixth-best career steal percentage (3.93) among SEC players over the last 14 seasons (2010–24). He also ranks ninth in terms of career defensive box plus/minus (4.94) during that same time period.
CollegeInsider.com presents the Jim Phelan Award, named for the legendary coach who won 786 games in 41 seasons. A 10-person voting committee comprising CollegeInsider.com staff members and both current and former head coaches chooses the winner of the award.
Zeigler is one of the 25 finalists for the award; there are three from the SEC and fifteen from Power Six leagues. The other players in the latter group are Andersson Garcia of Texas A&M and Johni Broome of Auburn.
Zeigler and sixth-ranked, second-seeded Tennessee (26-8, 14-4 SEC) resume play Friday at 9:59 p.m. against No. 11-ranked, third-seeded Creighton in the Sweet 16, live on TBS and truTV from Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
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