Zakai Zeigler updates his timeline for return, discusses knee injury

Zakai Zeigler will be back on the floor for Tennessee when the Vols host Missouri Wednesday night at Food City Center. The senior point guard said so himself Sunday night during an appearance on The Food City Locker Room.

“I’m good,” said Zeigler, who missed No. 8 Tennessee’s 64-44 win over No. 5 Florida on Saturday. “I’ll be back next game. Simple as that.”

Zeigler was then asked for clarification. That means Missouri, right? The 7 p.m. Eastern Time start on SEC Network Wednesday in Knoxville?

“That’s the next game,” he said with a laugh.

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Zakai Zeigler: ‘I was a little banged up and it was bothering me’

Zeigler was injured with 2:17 left in the first half of the 78-73 loss to Kentucky on Tuesday, but returned to start the second half and played all 20 minutes after halftime.

He didn’t practice Thursday or Friday and was ruled out for the Florida game on Saturday morning, after being listed as questionable on the SEC Injury Report on Friday night.

“I was a little banged up and it was bothering me,” Zeigler said, “had some number stuff that was going on with the strength coach that was a little off. And I was in some pain, but I’ll be back next game.” 

Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said during his postgame press conference on Saturday that Zeigler had an MRI Friday night and it showed no structural damage. Both Zeigler and senior forward Igor Milicic Jr. (illness) missed Saturday’s win, leaving the Vols with just seven scholarship players available.

Zeigler and Milicic combine to average 22.7 points, 11.6 rebounds and 9.5 assists per game. 

“Whoever is out here,” Barnes said after the game, “we are going to try and get ready to play. I know that if Zakai could have gone, he would have. Igor came in (Saturday morning) and did everything he could to get enough fluids in him. He couldn’t go. He fully wanted to try but he couldn’t.”

Zeigler was a constant presence at the end of the Tennessee bench on Saturday afternoon, standing in the corner and meeting his teammates when they came off the floor after timeouts or substitutions.

Up Next: Tennessee vs. Missouri, Wednesday, 7 p.m. ET, SEC Network

Barnes described Zeigler as an extension of the coaching staff, given his experience running Tennessee’s system over the last four years.

“It’s a great thing to have, because if you’re at walkthrough, they talk about it,” Barnes said. “We were talking about some of (Florida’s) actions they run. He is not afraid to say, ‘I think we need to do this.’ But the best part about it is, his teammates trust him. He’s engaged. He could be a coach. He certainly can coach our system. He understands what we’re looking for.”

Zeigler missing Saturday’s game snapped a streak of 51 straight starts. It was the first Tennessee game he had missed in his career outside of the torn ACL he suffered in the final home game of the 2022-23 season.

“It got to me the day before a little bit that I couldn’t play in the game,” Zeigler said. “And going through all the film sessions and everything, the night before it was bothering me some (thinking) I might not play.

“And then being out there, I was just like, I got to just take it on the chin. There’s nothing I can really do at this point and I just gotta have my brother’s back because I know they’re going to go out there and do whatever they could do.”