Greg Sankey reacts to Zakai Zeigler eligibility lawsuit

Former Tennessee guard Zakai Zeigler made headlines around the college sports world on May 21 when it was revealed that he had filed a lawsuit against the NCAA seeking a fifth year of eligibility.

The 2025 Third Team All-American and 2x SEC Defensive Player of the Year claimed that he was banned from competing in his final year of his five year eligibility window while going after a graduate’s degree. He however was not yet playing during the 2020-21 season, in which players got an extra year of eligibility. His first season of college basketball was the 2021-22 campaign.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey touched on the topic in his opening remarks at the 2025 SEC Spring Meetings on Monday.

“I think the conversation has to be informed with the why it didn’t advance before,” Sankey said when discussing whether or not players should be granted five years of eligibility. “This is primarily an undergraduate experience. There will be a lot more summer school, but we’ve got a lot of waivers out there. I think some of the rationale for advancing the idea ties back to ‘can we get through the waivers and just have something standard?’ You can do that with four years of eligibility.”

Diego Pavia paved the way

Sankey doesn’t seem to be a fan of this passing, but the precedent has already been set. Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia won a case seeking an extra year of eligibility last year, as he claimed that the NCAA’s rule of counting JUCO participation (thus cutting his Division 1 career short) limited him the ability to profit from his name, image and likeness.

Zeigler however did not play a season at junior college. He played all four seasons at Tennessee (138 games), where he started in 83 games. He played in at least 30 games all four seasons and leads Tennessee’s program all-time in steals (251) and assists (747). His claim is that previous athletes in the NIL era received an extra year of eligibility, so he should too.

“There are plenty of court cases now related to five years, four years, they’re all over the place. Should my year count at junior college? What about my year at Division 2? Should it count at Division 3? I played two years of NAIA baseball and one year of junior college basketball, so perhaps there’s something out there for me,” Sankey said with a bit of a grin.

It seems as if the SEC commissioner isn’t a fan of all players receiving an extra year of eligibility, but he along with Tennessee fans everywhere will be on pins and needles waiting for a decision.