Could Zakai Zeigler be back for Tennessee's exhibition at Michigan State? 'That's the goal'
Tennessee basketball’s first true test is less than two weeks away. On October 29, the Vols go to Michigan State for a charity exhibition game against the Spartans at the Breslin Center in East Lansing. If Zakai Zeigler will be on the floor with his Tennessee teammates when that happens remains to be determined.
Head coach Rick Barnes didn’t have the answer on Wednesday.
“We haven’t thought about it yet,” Barnes told local reporters Wednesday at SEC Media Day in Birmingham. “He’s doing his part. He has from day one. But again, he hasn’t done anything with us up and down the court yet. And it’s really, to me it’s day to day.”
Zeigler suffered a season-ending torn ACL against Arkansas on February 28. He drove baseline and fell to the court with the non-contact injury. He had surgery in March, just before the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament, after the swelling went down.
He was averaging 10.7 points, 5.3 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game before the injury.
No. 9 Tennessee at No. 4 Michigan State, October 29, 3:30 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network
Zeigler has been part of Tennessee practices this month, with preseason practices officially beginning in early October. After the October 29 exhibition at Michigan State (3:30 p.m. Eastern Time, Big Ten Network), the Vols open the regular-season schedule on November 6 against Tennessee Tech, then go to Wisconsin on November 10 for their first road game.
Going full court in practice is what Barnes described as the next step for Zeigler’s rehab process.
“I would say honestly, full court is a little bit easier or five on five,” Zeigler said. “It would be 10 people on the court, so it’s more space rather than just running up and down by myself. So I would say it’s a little bit easier in five-on-five full court.”
Playing for No. 9 Tennessee against Michigan State, the No. 4 team in the Associated Press Preseason Top 25, is what Zeigler is aiming for himself. The problem is, though, it’s not up to him.
“That’s the goal,” Zeigler said on Wednesday. “I would love to play against Michigan State. That would be what, a preseason top-10 matchup? So I would love to, but I’m just listening to the athletic trainers and to whatever they tell me.”
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Rick Barnes on Zakai Zeigler: ‘We’re going to take care of him physically first’
More specifically, it’s up to team trainer Chad Newman and strength coach Garrett Medenwald.
“Chad and Garrett have done a great job with him,” Barnes said. “And I mean, if you ask him, obviously he would tell you he wants to be be ready and play to play. But again, when we get there, we’ll decide. But I don’t think we’ve really set a date yet because we’re gonna err on the caution side of it.”
Zeigler errs on the side of aggressiveness, whether he’s playing the game on the floor or attacking the rehab process off of it. But Barnes said even Zeigler understands the big picture when it comes to the timing of his return.
“As much as he’s champing at the bit to get going, he knows that we’re going to look at it from a long-haul situation,” Barnes said. “And he’ll be good with it because he trusts his teammates and he know they’ve worked hard.
“And when he gets back, he knows that he can help us. Obviously he changes the floor every time he’s out there, but we’re going to take care of him physically first.”
