No. 2 Tennessee vs. No. 15 Saint Peter's means Zakai Zeigler facing off against his half-brother
Tennessee players had already discussed it as a possibility. What if the Vols got a No. 2 sed in the NCAA Tournament and got matched up against No. 15-seed Saint Peter’s?
The conversation wasn’t centered on the Peacocks and their Cinderella run to the Elite Eight as a No. 15 seed. It was about Zakai Zeigler facing off against Armoni Zeigler, his half-brother and freshman guard for Saint Peter’s.
“The funniest thing is that we kind of knew from before it could have been an option,” Tennessee fifth-year senior guard Santiago Vescovi said Sunday night after the NCAA Tournament bracket was released.
“Us playing Saint Peter’s, we were talking about it earlier. I told him, I was like, hey, you’re going to have to guard your brother. He’s like, no, you got him. He’s 6-5.”
Armoni Zeigler, a native of Amityville, N.Y., is listed at 6-foot-4, 185 pounds on the Saint Peter’s roster. He’s averaging 6.4 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 19.0 minutes per game.
“An interesting little sideline there,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said during his media availability Sunday.
Armoni Zeigler this season: 6.4 points, 2.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists in 19.0 minutes per game
When the matchup popped up on the screen Sunday during the NCAA Tournament Selection Show on CBS, Vescovi described it as “a very fun moment” watching Zeigler react.
“I mean we love it,” Vescovi said. “I think it’s going to be a great moment for both of them. It’s a really game. They’re both going to enjoy playing against each other. You don’t get to see that very often.
“And yeah, his reaction, like everybody, just started yelling in the locker room. And he got on his phone right away, probably with him.”
Saint Peter’s recruited Zakai Zeigler three years ago, when he was an unknown prospect out of the Bronx, N.Y. That is, until Tennessee swooped in and offered Zeigler, got him on campus and got his commitment in a span of just days in August 2021.
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Shaheen Holloway, the head coach who led Saint Peter’s to the Elite Eight before leaving for Seton Hall, was asked in Indianapolis in 2022 about recruiting Zeigler and then losing him to Tennessee.
“You really going to throw that in my face right now?” Holloway asked, drawing a laugh.
“First, I’m really proud of him,” Holloway continued. “He’s playing his butt off for Tennessee. We recruited him early. I thought we had a good shot until AAU started … we recruited him hard, and I thought we had a shot.
“And then he played last summer for the New York Lightning in the EYBL, and from there it was history.”
March Madness First Round: No. 2 Tennessee vs. No. 15 Saint Peter’s, Thursday, Charlotte, N.C.
Tennessee (24-8) needs know introduction to Saint Peter’s (19-13). The Peacocks went on a run to the Elite Eight in 2022 — they were in Indianapolis, sharing the first-weekend location with the Vols — after taking down No. 2 Kentucky, No. 7 Murray State and No. 3 Purdue before finally bowing out against No. 8 North Carolina in the fourth round.
“That’s what I told our team,” Barnes said. “I said if I were at Saint Peter’s right now, it’d be the first thing I’d put up right there. Say look what happened, it can be done. And we know it can be done now at every level.
“I mean, No. 16 seeds beat a No. 1 or No. 15 beats a No. 2. It’s about our focus and getting ready. And you got to go out and play great basketball from here on out.”
