Vols Zakai Zeigler Wins Lefty Driesell Defensive Player of the Year Award….

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee – It was revealed on Monday afternoon that Zakai Zeigler, a member of the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team, is a finalist for the Lefty Driesell Defensive Player of the Year Award.

Zeigler is one of the finalists for the prestigious award for the second consecutive season. For the second year in a row, he was also among the ten semifinalists for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award.

Zeigler has already won awards for SEC Defensive Player of the Year this month. He is the third person under six feet, regardless of school, to receive the prize and the second Volunteer to do so.

The Long Island, New York native has 1.82 steals per game, which puts him fourth in the SEC. With a 2.11 conference record, he finished second in the league.

Zeigler has logged multiple steals in 16 contests this season, logging three-plus 10 times and four-plus seven times. The latter mark is good for a top-15 spot nationally, co-seventh among Power Six players and second in the SEC.

With 62 steals this year, Zeigler ranks ninth on Tennessee’s single-season leaderboard. His 180 steals in three years as a Volunteer put him fifth all-time in the program record books, as well as fifth among active SEC players. Zeigler is averaging 1.83 steals per game in his career, fourth-best all-time at Tennessee and second-best among active SEC players.

Zeigler’s career steal percentage of 3.93 is sixth-best among SEC players over the last 14 seasons (2010-24), per College Basketball Reference, which also puts him ninth in career defensive box plus/minus during that time with a 4.94 mark.

The Jim Phelan Award, named after the legendary coach who won 786 games in 41 seasons, is presented by CollegeInsider.com. The recipient of the award is determined by a 10-member voting committee, which includes current and former head coaches, as well as CollegeInsider.com staff members.

Zeigler is among 25 finalists for the award, including one of 15 in a Power Six league and one of three from the SEC. The other players in the latter category are Auburn’s Johni Broome and Texas A&M’s Andersson Garcia.