Should Zakai Zeigler Be Granted his 5th Year of Eligibility with Tennessee Basketball?

Should Tennessee Volunteers basketball star Zakai Zeigler be granted a 5th year of eligibility, or is it time to put a stop to all of this? Vols On SI takes a deep dive into the situation.

The Tennessee Volunteers recently were back in the news, as their star player, Zakai Zeigler, who was a Senior this past season, requested a 5th year of eligibility.

Zeigler was not a red-shirt and has played four seasons with the Vols, with none of his seasons going under the number of games to allow a red-shirt.

Zeigler was a rotational player who would sub into the game early on in his freshman season, as he played behind current G-League guard Kennedy Chandler.

Since then, Zeigler has been a starter for three seasons.

In one of the seasons as a starter, Zeigler would suffer a season-ending injury to his knee, where he would tear his ACL, just games before the tournament.

This injury was devastating, however, many believe the 5-foot-9 point guard came back and played the best basketball of his career after a successful rehab.

Zeigler would go on to make Tennessee and SEC history in assists and double-doubles for points and assists, as he made his mark in Knoxville as arguably the best Tennessee Volunteer hoop star of all-time and undoubtedly at the minimum the best guard in Tennessee history.

The Vols star is hopeful to have one more year as he has filed to sue the NCAA for another season of eligibility.

This has been an ongoing trend for players across the nation.

While some have been denied, others have been granted an extra season.

However, one thing that doesn't go Zeigler's way is the fact that he never played at a lower level, and played at a high level throughout his full career.

While many want to throw up the Diego Pavia situation, they are completely different, as he played JUCO.

But even with it being different, the overall point that has to be made is either that no one should be granted a 5th season (outside of a red-shirt or medical red-shirt), or everyone should be granted a 5th year.

This could very well be a sloppy look if another Tennessee player is denied a 5th year like Alberto Osuna was for the baseball team.

It has come to a point that fans want to see an even playing field instead of biased actions taken.

While that could be the case for this situation, no signs have pointed to either direction at this point.

Follow Tennessee on SI on Twitter: @VolsOnSI Follow Tennessee on SI on Facebook: @VOLS on SI Follow Caleb Sisk On Twitter: @CalebSisk_ Follow Tanner Johnson On Twitter: @JohnsonTanner23_ Follow Jonathan Williams On Twitter: @DR_JWill Follow Evan Crowell On Twitter: @evanvcrowell Follow Brooks Austin On Twitter: @BrooksAustinBA Follow Josh Greer On Twitter: @JSGreer731 Make sure to follow our website Tennessee on SI.

REPORT: Transfer Price for Nico Iamaleava Rapidly Dropping What We Learned About the Tennessee Volunteers During Spring Practice NCAA Transfer Portal Needs that Must Be Addressed by Tennessee Football North Carolina Football Reportedly "Out of the Mix" for Tennessee's Nico Iamaleava Tennessee Football 2026 Target G'nivre Carr Recaps Tennessee Spring Game Visit Whos Next for Tennessee Football at Quarterback? Tennessee Football Linebacker Target Brayden Rouse Recaps Tennessee Spring Visit Tennessee's Elijah Simmons Labeled One of the Biggest Sleepers for 2025 NFL Draft Where Will Nico Iamaleava Transfer - Options For Vols Transfer QB Limited Latest NCAA Baseball Rankings: Tennessee Volunteers Rise Up a Spot Former Tennessee Quarterback Comments on Nico Iamaleava Transferring Tennessee Players Threatened to Sit Out of Playoff Game Over NIL, Including Iamaleava.

This article has been shared from the original article on si, here is the link to the original article.