KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The SEC released Monday afternoon the results of the preseason voting by its select panel of league and national media members.
University of Tennessee senior guard Zakai Zeigler collected Preseason First Team All-SEC status, one of five players to do so. The others who made the cut are Auburn’s Johni Broome, Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr., Alabama’s Mark Sears and Texas A&M’s Wade Taylor IV.
Sears earned SEC Preseason Player of the Year plaudits, while Zeigler was one of four others to receive votes, alongside Broome, Taylor and Georgia’s Asa Newell.
A native of Long Island, N.Y., Zeigler is coming off a superb 2023-24 campaign in which he posted 11.8 points, 6.1 assists, 2.8 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game, while shooting 34.4 percent beyond the arc. He earned First Team All-SEC and SEC Defensive Player of the Year plaudits from the league’s coaches last year, plus was named one of 10 semifinalists for Naismith Defensive Player of the Year for the second season in a row.
This is the third consecutive year Zeigler is a Preseason All-SEC choice by the media, after garnering second-team status in advance of both the 2023-24 and 2022-23 campaigns. He is the fourth three-time honoree in program history, joining Allan Houston (first team in each of 1990-91, 1991-92 and 1992-93), Tony Harris (first team in each 1998-99, 1999-2000 and 2000-01) and Tyler Smith (second team in 2007-08, first team in both 2008-09 and 2009-10).
In addition, Tennessee finished third in the SEC preseason poll, trailing only first-place Alabama and second-place Auburn.
This is the third straight year the Volunteers took a top-three position in the preseason media poll, the only school that can make such a claim. Tennessee held the top spot in 2023-24 and indeed went on to win the league title. In 2022-23, head coach Rick Barnes‘ team took third-place in the voting.
Tennessee has claimed a top-five spot in the preseason media poll seven consecutive years, dating back to the 2018-19 edition.
To keep up with the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team on social media, follow @Vol_Hoops on Instagram and X/Twitter, as well as /tennesseebasketball on Facebook.
Preseason First Team All-SEC
Johni Broome – Auburn
Walter Clayton Jr. – Florida
Mark Sears – Alabama
Wade Taylor IV – Texas A&M
Zakai Zeigler – Tennessee
Preseason Second Team All-SEC
Jonas Aidoo – Arkansas
Johnell Davis – Arkansas
Josh Hubbard – Mississippi State
Matthew Murrell – Ole Miss
Grant Nelson – Alabama
Third Team All-SEC
Chad Baker-Mazara – Auburn
Alex Condon – Florida
Tramon Mark – Texas
Collin Murray-Boyles – South Carolina
Jaxson Robinson – Kentucky
Preseason SEC Player of the Year
Mark Sears – Alabama
Predicted Order of Finish
1. Alabama
2. Auburn
3. Tennessee
4. Arkansas
5. Texas A&M
6. Florida
7. Texas
8. Kentucky
9. Ole Miss
10. Mississippi State
11. South Carolina
12. Georgia
13. Missouri
14. LSU
15. Oklahoma
16. Vanderbilt
