Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes met with the media in Knoxville on Wednesday afternoon before the Vols travel north to Madison, Wisconsin, for a game against the Wisconsin Badgers this Friday night on Peacock.
The Vols will head to Madison with an official 1-0 record after their 80-42 win over Tennessee Tech on Monday, but also as winners of their last three games. While not on the record, Tennessee defeated both Michigan State and Lenoir-Rhyne in exhibition games leading into the season.
During his Wednesday press conference, Barnes gave his thoughts on Wisconsin and spoke about the challenges that Tennessee will face this weekend. Barnes also spoke about Zakai Zeigler’s return to the court, Josiah-Jordan James’ strong shooting night on Monday, Jonas Aidoo’s defensive presence, and much more.
Speaker of Zeigler, the junior guard also spoke to the media on Wednesday afternoon. Zeigler made his on-court return on Monday night after tearing his ACL in late February and going through significant rehab and recovery this offseason.
Zeigler gave his perspective of returning to the court, how he felt after the game compared to after practices, the timetable that the medical staff had him on, and much more.
Wisconsin (1-0) will host No. 9 Tennessee (1-0) this Friday night in Madison, Wisconsin, at 9:00 p.m. ET on Peacock.
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Check out both Tennessee basketball interviews from Wednesday in Knoxville below:
HC Rick Barnes
PG Zakai Zeigler
