Watch: Sweet 16 hype video showcases Tennessee basketball's ties to New York City
NEW YORK — It’s only fitting that Tennessee’s road in the NCAA Tournament brought the Vols back to New York City for Thursday’s Sweet 16 game against Florida Atlantic at Madison Square Garden.
It’s a homecoming for sophomore point guard Zakai Zeigler, from Wyandanch, Long Island, and freshman power forward Tobe Awaka, from Hyde Park, N.Y.
But there’s more that the Vols have in common with the New York area.
“We appeal to just what New York City basketball is all about,” Awaka said of the Tennessee basketball program in a video published on social media on Thursday, “just the mentality that comes with being tough, being gritty, overcoming adversity. That’s something both parties share.”
“No matter who it is,” Zeigler added, “no matter who we’re playing against, we’re going to give it our all and we’re going to fight until that last buzzer goes off.”
make it here, make it anywhere.
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No. 4 Tennessee (25-10) faces No. 9 Florida Atlantic (33-3) on Thursday (9 p.m. Eastern Time, TBS) at Madison Square Garden, with the winner advancing to face either No. 3 Kansas State or No. 7 Michigan State.
Tennessee has other historic ties to New York in program legends Bernard King (Brooklyn) and Ernie Grunfeld (Forest Hills) along with Ed Wiener (Brooklyn), Howard Wood (East Hampton) and Tobias Harris (Dix Hills), all five All-Americans.
The 6-foot-8, 250-pound Awaka attended Cardinal Hayes High School in The Bronx while Zeigler, the 5-foot-9 point guard, attended Our Savior Lutheran in The Bronx.
“I think it’s just the energy that the game of basketball creates in New York City,” Awaka said. “The grittiness, the competitiveness that comes with the game.”
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“Basketball culture in New York is everything,” Zeigler followed. “Every kid grows up and sees Madison Square Garden and wants to play there. There’s a lot of toughness, a lot of fight. Everybody, when they grow up, they want to be that type of player that everybody comes to see.”
Up Next: No. 4 Tennessee vs. No. 9 Florida Atlantic, Sweet 16, Thursday, 9 p.m. ET, TBS
Both Awaka and Zeigler were three-star prospects who weren’t recruited heavily out of high school, before being scouted and offered scholarships by the Tennessee coaching staff. Both were part of the same New York AAU program, the New Heights Lightning.
Zeigler, after a breakout freshman season, averaged 10.7 points, 5.3 assists and 4.6 rebounds and 1.9 steals in 28.7 minutes per game before tearing his ACL in the February 28 win over Arkansas.
Awaka during his debut season has averaged 10.6 minutes per game, scoring 3.3 points and grabbing 3.9 rebounds.
“Not everything is given to us,” Awaka said of growing up in the New York area. “We have to work for everything we get. That mentality brings itself onto the court and that’s something that Coach (Rick) Barnes sort of wants to establish, the culture and identity we’re building with this team.”
“We bring a different kind of energy and fight,” Zeigler said of the Vols, “that no other team in the country can bring. We’ve got that dog in us and everybody knows us.”
