Tennessee point guard Zakai Zeigler is an All-American.
After landing as a Sporting News Third Team All-America selection last week, the Associated Press tabbed Zeigler as a Third Team All-American.
Zeigler enters the NCAA Tournament with a number of accolades after a strong senior season. The 5-foot-9 point guard enters the NCAA Tournament averaging 13.8 points per game on 41% shooting from the field and 32.4% shooting from three-point range.
The veteran guard affects the game in a multitude of ways other than scoring to. Zeigler is averaging 7.3 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game.
Zeigler has already earned a multitude of awards for his play this season. The SEC’s coaches voted him to the All-SEC First Team and as the league’s Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season. Zeigler is playing at a high level entering the NCAA Tournament, landing on the All-SEC Tournament Team after averaging 20.7 points and six assists in the Vols’ three games in Nashville.
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Purdue’s Braden Smith (16.1 PPG and 8.7 APG) was a first team selection along with Florida point guard Walter Clayton (17.5 PPG, 4.3 APG) while Marquette’s Kam Jones (19.3 PPG, 5.9 APG) was the second team point guard.
From the SEC, Clayton, Alabama’s Mark Sears and Auburn’s Johni Broome landed on the first. Broome was the AP National Player of the Year. There were no SEC players on the second team and Zeigler was the only SEC player on the third team.
Tennessee shooting guard Chaz Lanier was an honorable mention for the All-American teams after averaging 17.7 points on 40% shooting from three-point range to go along with 3.8 rebounds per game. Lanier is the leading scorer for two-seed Tennessee basketball this season.
The Vols open up NCAA Tournament play on Thursday night when they face 15-seed Wofford at Rupp Arena in Lexington. Tipoff between the Vols and Terriers is at 6:50 p.m. ET. TNT is broadcasting the game.
