Zakai Zeigler talks season-ending injury, how he can still help Tennessee and what's next

Zakai Zeigler on Wednesday in Nashville met with reporters for the first time since the Tennessee sophomore point guard tore his ACL early in the 75-57 win over Arkansas on February 28 at Thompson-Boling Arena. Zeigler looked back at the injury, discussed the impact he can still have on his team and what is next ahead of the Vols opening SEC Tournament play on Thursday afternoon against either Ole Miss or South Carolina:

What was going through his head at the time of the injury and when he got back to the Tennessee locker room after leaving the floor

“I was just thinking in my head how can I be as positive to the team as possible. Because I knew once I went down, it was going to be a pretty bad injury. I wasn’t sure at the time what it would be. But I was thinking how can I help the guys, no matter what the situation, no matter what the injury is. Just how can I stay positive?”

Zakai Zeigler trying to help Vols ‘no matter the injury’

How he can help this Tennessee team despite being sidelined by the torn ACL

“I would just say staying positive, talking to them as much as possible, letting them know what I see on the sideline. It’s a whole different ballgame looking at the game from the sideline, rather than on the court. You see more things, you see all 10 guys on the floor way easier. I would just say letting everyone know what I see on the court and staying positive. Just trying to help them no matter the injury.”

How challenging it has been mentally dealing with a season-ending injury

“It’s been a little bit challenging, but I’m just trying to stay around my teammates and they’re keeping me positive. It hasn’t been as bad. It’s tough. I want to be on the court, I want to be out there playing. Everything is God’s plan, so I’m just staying the course.”

If there’s a timetable for when he might be back on the court for Tennessee

“As of right now, I’m not really 1,000 percent sure. But I plan on being back next season, before we start.”

How long it took him to get past the initial shock of the injury and turning to the mindset of how he can still help this Tennessee team

“When I went down. Right away. I never thought at any moment that I would lose value on the team or I would lose love for the team. Or the guys wouldn’t have my back and I wouldn’t have their back. Once I went down, I already knew that I would still play a big part in this team.”

Who on this team or in his family has been someone to lean on while dealing with this situation

“I would say everyone. If anything, they’re checking on me more than I’m calling on them. They’ll say they’re going to come hang out with me or I’m going to hang out with them. They’ll take me to get something to eat or my mom will call me. It’s everybody. Everybody in the program. Coach Barnes, all the coaches, everyone checks up on me to see how I’m doing — mentally and physically.”

What Santiago Vescovi has been able to do the last two games, playing most of the minutes in Tennessee’s shorthanded backcourt 

“It’s been really impressive because I know what Santi can do. But then again, it’s not that impressive because I know what he can do. I had to guard him from my freshman year until now. I know how good of a player he is. He’s always going to step up to the situation, to the plate, no matter what. Santi is always going to play. He’s going to take it on the chin, do what he has to do.”

How much BJ Edwards can help Tennessee in the backcourt

“I talk to BJ myself and I know that he can help the team in a lot of ways. He’s a guy that, he never puts his head down. He’s always positive. No matter what it is, he’s always going to want to help the team in any shape or form that he can. He always just wants to be that guy that, no matter what, if we put him in with 30 seconds left or we put in when there are 30 minutes left in the game, he’s going to want to help us out no matter what.”

Shooting from his scooter 

“Some guys got God-given talent. I guess I’m just one of those guys. This scooter is a big help.”

Being named Second Team All-SEC and to the SEC All-Defensive Team

“It was a really good feeling. Those are things that everybody that plays basketball, they always want to be on an All-SEC or All-Big Ten, one of those teams. And All-Defensive team. I pride myself a lot on defense. Once I saw I was on there, it was a really good feeling.”

The key for this Tennessee team to continue to adjust without him on the floor

“I would just say it’s the same thing whether I’m on the court or off the court. Just staying together, I would say, is the biggest part. If we’re not together and trying to go individually on our own, it’s going to be a whole different ballgame, because we haven’t played like that all year. If we always stick together no matter what, we’ll be perfectly fine.”

What he saw from this Tennessee team in the two games played without him

“I would say the fight never stopped. No matter what it was. If it was me going down, it wasn’t alright, we’ve got to have Z’s back. It was we still have to win the game. I would say that’s my biggest thing. All the guys had all their fight in them. Everybody stepped up when they needed to.”

If he was surprised Santiago Vescovi wasn’t on the SEC’s All-Defensive team

“Very surprised. I actually was. I could’ve saw Jahamai (Mahsack) on there too. Those are two guys that also pride themselves a lot on defense. We always talk trash to each other about defense. But I was really surprised by that.”

Up Next: Tennessee vs. Ole Miss or South Carolina, Thursday, 3:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network

If others don’t recognize how good Santiago Vescovi is on defense because of what he does on offense

“I wouldn’t say so. Because he feeds a lot off of his defense. If he gets a steal, he’ll come down and even if he’s not making shots, he’s never going to let that affect his defense. He’s one of those guys. I would say he’s overlooked on defense.”

His memories of the SEC Tournament last season

“That championship. That’s a feeling that we would love to have again this year, that we’re working towards. We know it’s not going to be easy. But we remember how we felt last year and we want to have that same feeling again.” 

 The film session Tennessee had on Monday looking back at the entire regular season

“I would say from last year, we were all locked in from one game to the next game to the next game. We never looked back at our past games and said oh we played bad and we did this or that. But we just mostly looked forward. Alright, we won that game, that game is in the past now, we’ve got to move on to the next. Because the next game is always going to be the most important game.”