Zakai Zeigler updates his 'personal goal,' timeline for return after ACL surgery

NEW YORK — Zakai Zeigler had a “very successful” ACL surgery, according to what Tennessee’s sophomore point guard was told by doctors, and he hopes to be back on the court with his teammates in either August or September.

Ziegler updated his status on Wednesday in the Tennessee locker room at Madison Square Garden, saying there was “not really” an exact timeline on his comeback from the torn ACL he suffered against Arkansas on February 28.

“I want to push toward August or September, honestly,” Zeigler said. “That’s my personal goal. I just want to push toward that. Not so much being able to be fully active, but to be able to move around and just try to get on the court somewhat.”

Zeigler had surgery on March 13 and was unable to join Tennessee for the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament last week in Orlando, where the Vols beat No. 13 Louisiana and No. 5 Duke to advance to the Sweet 16.

Tennessee’s season ended late Thursday night in a 62-55 loss to Florida Atlantic.

“They told me it was very successful,” Zeigler said of his surgery. “It was a clean cut in the ACL and it was an easy repair. my road to recovery started right after the surgery honestly.”

Zeigler drove baseline with 17:06 left in the first half against Arkansas on February 28 and crumpled to the floor with the non-contact injury. The sophomore starting point guard for the Vols had to be helped off the court with team trainer Chad Newman and strength coach Garrett Medenwald under each arm.

Zakai Zeigler this season: 10.7 points, 5.3 assists, 4.6 rebounds, 1.9 steals in 28.7 minutes per game

Zeigler met with reporters before the SEC Tournament, talking for the first time since the injury. At the time, he was unaware of what his timeline for return would be.

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

Zeigler opened the scoring against Arkansas on a layup at the 18:55 mark and recorded an assist 67 seconds later on an Olivier Nkamhoua dunk to make it a 4-0 lead for Tennessee. The assist gave him 161 on the season, tying the number Kennedy Chandler finished with over 34 games last season.

Zeigler said he immediately started thinking after the injury how he would be able to help his team while sidelined.

“Because I knew once I went down, it was going to be a pretty bad injury,” he said. “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 had 161 assists at the time of his injury, matching Kennedy Chandler’s 2021-22 total

At the time of the injury, Zeigler was tied with Nkamhoua as Tennessee’s second-leading scorer, averaging 10.7 points per game. He leads the Vols in assists — Santiago Vescovi’s 89 is second behind Zeigler’s 161 — and steals (59). He recorded his fifth double-double of the season in the win over South Carolina on Saturday.

He is second on the team in minutes, averaging 28.7 minutes while playing in all 30 games before the injury.

The key to moving on without him, Zeigler said, was his Tennessee teammates staying together.

“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.”