Tennessee basketball coach Rick Barnes provided quite the declaration in a news conference following Saturday night’s 82-71 triumph over 10th-ranked Texas inside Thompson-Boling Arena.
The topic was sophomore Zakai Zeigler.
“What can you say about him?” Barnes said. “I mean, he’s got to be right there with the very best point guards in the country when you think about what he does night in and night out.”
Zeigler on Monday was named the Southeastern Conference’s player of the week after averaging 16.5 points and 8.5 assists in double-digit victories over Georgia and the Longhorns. He didn’t play his normal allotment of minutes during last Wednesday’s 70-41 drubbing of the Bulldogs but was everywhere against Texas, tallying 22 points, 10 assists, three rebounds and two steals.
It was just the seventh performance of 20 or more points and 10 or more assists in Tennessee history.