Zakai Zeigler (Photo from Google images)
#12 Tennessee won their final home game against Arkansas 57-75 in a packed house in Thompson-Boling Arena. This basketball season has gone by way too fast. It’s been a wild ride of emotions from huge wins over Kansas and Texas to gut punch losses at the buzzer to unranked teams. This only happens to Tennessee. Being a Tennessee fan means giving your all to a team you love with the risk of being left heart broken and asking the sports god whyyyyyyyy?
Senior Night
It was senior night for Olivier Nkamhoua, Santiago Vescovi, Uros Plavsic, Josiah-Jordan James, Tyreke Key and Kent Gilbert. Technically, Nkamhoua, Vescovi, Plavsic, and James all have a remaining year of eligibility and could come back next year due to the COVID mess. There have been no reports on what any of them will do because they are focused on finishing this season and the NCAA Tournament. Either way, they all are a VFL (Vol For Life).
https://twitter.com/yankeefanintenn/status/1630812194706169856?s=46&t=1NtIqfIMnLdUtDEPHt6kfg
Even if they choose to leave or stay, the senior class resume has left their mark on Tennessee. With 84 victories, eight wins over AP top-10 teams, ranked AP top-10 for 19 total weeks, SEC tournament championship, A Battle for Atlantis title, and they have never missed an NCAA Tournament. The fans have been there to support them. For each of the last three non-COVID-impacted seasons, Tennessee finished in the top five nationally in average home attendance. The Vols currently rank fourth in the nation with an average of 18,479 fans through 13 games at Thompson-Boling Arena. (UTsports.com)
It’s Been a Roller Coaster Ride
This team has had a roller coaster ride of a February. With wins over then #25 Auburn, then #1 Alabama, blowouts over South Carolina and Arkansas. Back-to-back buzzer beater losses to Vanderbilt and Missouri could only happened to the Vols. They haven’t had a fully healthy roster in what feels like months. Going into Tuesday’s game only Key was out with an ankle injury and JJJ and Julian Phillips were back in the lineup. This was a preview for what to expect in March.
Only three minutes into Tuesday night’s game, Zakai Zeigler looked like he was in tremendous pain as he fell to the court in a non-contact play. The second Zeigler didn’t pop back up from falling, we knew it was bad. Zeigler is tough and he bounces back quickly. Thompson-Boling Arena was silent as Zeigler was grabbing his left knee. Two trainers had to help Zeigler off the court as he was unable to put any weight on his left leg. How can the sport gods be so cruel? Zeigler is the energy of this team. No player in Tennessee program history has recorded more points plus assists double-doubles than Zakai Zeigler in one season. The Vols win 81% of the time when Zeigler plays 31 or more minutes per game. (Stat from Nathanael Rutherford @Mr_Rutherfor twitter.) He is so important to this team! We knew he would not return.
A very sad scene watching Zakai Zeigler get injured, but Vol Nation showered him with love and support as he was helped off the floor. pic.twitter.com/BpK7loYC6j
— Karthik Venkataraman (@KarthikV_) March 1, 2023
Zeigler is the only SEC rep and the only underclassman on the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Semifinalist. Tennessee announced tonight that Zakai has suffered a torn ACL and will miss the rest of the season. The news we didn’t want to hear. Now we just pray for Zakai to have a speedy recovery and hope he will be the inspiration in March.
March Madness has started
Flashes of Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker came back too soon. Both football and basketball teams were on the brink of making the season really special. Both players are loved by VolNation. Neither player or team deserved this injury. As someone who has had three knee surgeries, I feel their pain. Bleeping March Madness has already begun.
The Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Gavin Lux has a torn right ACL and is likely out for the season. The injury happened as he was running from second base to third base during Monday’s spring training game against the Padres. It’s been a terrible week for season ending knee injuries for those of us who are Tennessee and Dodger fans.
Tennessee (22-8) will play their final regular season game on Saturday March 4th at 2:00 PM EST at Auburn (19-11).
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