Report: Zakai Zeigler undergoes ACL surgery, won't accompany Vols to first NCAA Tournament games

According to a report from the Tennessean, Volunteers point guard Zakai Zeigler had surgery to repair his torn ACL and will not be with the team for the opening stages of the NCAA Tournament.

Zeigler suffered the torn ACL on Feb. 28, but he had traveled with the team to Nashville for the SEC Tournament.

The stalwart point guard will be able to rejoin the team should Tennessee advance to the Sweet 16, with Wilson noting Zeigler would accompany the team to the East Regional at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Pre-ACL surgery, Zakai Zeigler was a huge part of Tennessee’s successful campaign that allowed the Volunteers to get a four-seed in the NCAA Tournament.

He averaged 10.7 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists this season while soaking up 28.7 minutes per game.

The Volunteers have managed OK without him, though clearly without the same power in the backcourt. Leading scorer Santiago Vescovi and guards Josiah-Jordan James and Tyreke Key have done the bulk of the heavy lifting without Zeigler.

Vescovi is a spot-up shooter and occasional ball-handler, averaging 12.9 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.

Jordan-James offers a slightly bigger presence in the backcourt, and he’s averaging 10.2 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. Key adds 8.4 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game.

Rick Barnes not looking to change much

Tennessee has been one of the better teams in the country throughout the entire season, not just heading into the NCAA Tournament. Because of that success, head coach Rick Barnes doesn’t want to change a lot of things the team is doing.

But Barnes said one thing he wants to see dial up to another level is the team’s film room prep.

“It’s important and it’s got to go to another level,” Barnes said. “Concentration’s got to get ratcheted up. Every game you want to see that. Even when I talk about, from our point of view, our details. Guys still make shots. They still got to make the shot. Teams have done that but we just got to make sure it’s on our terms and that’s where the detail comes in. Our guys really I do think concentrate and they work hard with the scouting report and knowing at this time of year the game slows down some because the long timeouts.”