Zeigler Repeats as SEC DPOY, First-Teamer; Lanier NCOY, Second-Teamer; Mashack All-Defensive
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Three members of the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team collected All-SEC honors from the league’s head coaches, as announced Monday afternoon by the conference office.
For the second consecutive season, Zakai Zeigler earned SEC Defensive Player of the Year, First Team All-SEC and SEC All-Defensive Team status. Chaz Lanier received SEC Newcomer of the Year and Second Team All-SEC plaudits, while Jahmai Mashack garnered SEC All-Defensive Team recognition.
Zeigler is the first player in conference history to collect four SEC All-Defensive Team distinctions, while just three others have even three. Tennessee also has the only four-time First Team All-SEC designees ever in Ernie Grunfeld and Allan Houston.
A senior guard, Zeigler is the third multiple-time SEC Defensive Player of the Year, joining Texas A&M’s Robert Williams (2016-17 and 2017-18) and Mississippi State’s Jarvis Varnado (2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10). Only Zeigler and Varnado have won the award outright on multiple occasions, as Williams shared his second one. Tennessee is just the second school—Yves Pons notched the award in 2019-20—with at least three SEC Defensive Player of the Year wins, joining Kentucky (six).
This is the third All-SEC accolade of Zeigler’s career, as he was a second-teamer in 2021-22 before his back-to-back first-team nods. The Long Island, N.Y., native is the 21st Volunteer to tally three All-SEC designations, as well as the 27th with multiple First Team All-SEC plaudits (any official outlet). He is one of 14 players in both groups, alongside Dale Ellis, Ernie Grunfeld, Allan Houston, Gilbert Huffman, Reggie Johnson, Bill Justus, Bernard King, Len Kosmalski, Chris Lofton, Dyron Nix, Paul “Lefty” Walther, Tony White and Ron Widby.
Zeigler is averaging 13.1 points, 7.5 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game this season. He excelled in SEC-only action, notching 14.1 points, 7.0 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game, while shooting 34.5 percent from 3-point range.
A 5-foot-9, 172-pounder, Zeigler scored double-digit points in 24 of 30 regular season contests, with 13-plus in 18 of them, 16-plus in 12 and 20-plus in two. The Dec. 31, 2024, AP National Player of the Week dished out at least six assists in 25 appearances, with eight-plus in 15, 10-plus in four and a career-high 15 in two.
Zeigler, who ranks fifth in Division I in assists average, is one of five finalists for the Bob Cousy Award and was named an All-America Honorable Mention by College Hoops Today. He is on the Naismith Trophy Midseason Team, the USBWA Oscar Robertson Trophy Midseason Watch List and, for the third year in a row, the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Watch List.
Lanier is the first player in league history to win the inaugural SEC Newcomer of the Year award, given to a transfer student-athlete who has not previously competed in SEC action.
