Zakai Zeigler wins SEC Defensive Player of the Year again, Chaz Lanier named Newcomer of the Year
Zakai Zeigler was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year for a second straight season and Chaz Lanier was named Newcomer of the Year on Monday, when the SEC announced its league awards voted on by coaches.
Zeigler was also voted First Team All-SEC, Lanier was Second Team All-SEC and Jahmai Mashack made the All-Defensive Team alongside Zeigler.
Zeigler made history as the SEC’s first player to make the All-Defensive Team four times. He’s the third player to be named SEC Defensive Player of the Year multiple times, joining Robert Williams III (Texas A&M) and Jarvis Vernardo (Mississippi State).
Bruce Pearl named Coach of the Year, Johni Broome wins Player of the Year
Bruce Pearl was named Coach of the Year and Johni Broome won Player of the Year. Texas guard Tre Johnson is the Freshman of the Year and Missouri’s Caleb Grill was named Sixth-Man of the Year.
The league shifted from First and Second Teams that consisted of eight players each to First, Second and Third Teams with five players each.
Zeigler was joined on the First Team by Broome, Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr., Alabama’s Mark Sears and Texas A&M’s Wade Taylor IV.
On the Second Team with Lanier was Tre Johnson, Mississippi State’s Josh Hubbard, South Carolina’s Collin Murray-Boyles and Kentucky’s Otega Oweh. On the Third Team was Auburn’s Chad Baker-Mazara, Florida’s Alex Condon, Vanderbilt’s Jason Edwards, Missouri’s Mark Mitchell and Ole Miss guard Sean Pedulla.
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Jahmai Mashack led Tennessee in defensive box plus/minus, tied for second nationally
Zeigler finished the regular season averaging 13.1 points, 7.5 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.9 steals in 33.9 minutes per game. He was third in the SEC in steals, led the league in assists and was fourth in minutes.
Lanier was Tennessee’s plug-and-play scoring threat out of the NCAA Transfer Portal, averaging 17.9 points per game after transferring to the Vols from Northern Florida. He shot 43.2% from the field and 40.5% from the 3-point line.
He was fifth in the SEC in scoring and was seventh in 3-point field goal percentage.
Lanier averaged 19.7 points per game in a breakout year at North Florida last season, shooing 44.0% from the 3-point line and 51.0% from the field.
He made 105 3-pointers this season, becoming just the third Tennessee player to make 100 or more in a season, joining Chris Lofton and Santiago Vescovi. Lanier is 13 3-pointers away from matching Lofton’s single-season record of 118.
Mashack is tied for second nationally in defensive box plus/minus at 7.1. Duke freshman Cooper Flagg also has 7.1 rating while Houston’s Joseph Tugler leads the country at 7.3.
