University of Tennessee point guard Zakai Zeigler, the epitome of perseverance, will share his personal story of overcoming obstacles when he visits Chattanooga next month as the guest speaker for this year’s Times Free Press Best of Preps awards banquet.
The 5-foot-9, 171-pound Zeigler has overcome a list of hurdles — including tough surroundings growing up, a lack of size, the loss of his family’s home and a season-ending ACL injury last year — to become one of the Southeastern Conference’s top basketball players.
“From an early age, my mom would never let me use anything as an excuse,” Zeigler said during a phone interview Saturday. “She always told me to keep a chip on my shoulder, and that’s something that has driven me through whatever I’ve faced.”
(READ MORE: Zeigler continues to ignite the Vols as their energetic engine)
A three-time selection to the SEC’s all-defensive team and the league’s defensive player of the year this past season, Zeigler has also scored more than 1,000 career points, and this year he was named by league coaches to the All-SEC first team and made the All-Midwest Region team during the Volunteers’ deep run in the NCAA tournament.