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Zakai Zeigler to play professional basketball in France

IMG_3593by: Grant Ramey07/23/25GrantRamey
Zakai Zeigler, Tennessee Basketball | Jordan Prather-Imagn Images
(Jordan Prather-Imagn Images) Mar 22, 2025; Lexington, KY, USA; Tennessee Volunteers guard Zakai Zeigler (5) during the second half in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Rupp Arena.

The next stop in the basketball career of Zakai Zeigler will be professional basketball in France. Nanterre 92, a Paris-based club in France’s top basketball league, Pro A, announced the addition of Zeigler on social media on Wednesday.

The former Tennessee Basketball point guard spent the last two weeks playing in the NBA Summer League with the Detroit Pistons after going undrafted in the NBA Draft.

Zeigler appeared in four Summer League games with the Pistons, averaging 9.0 points, 3.0 assists and 1.8 turnovers per game. He shot 39.1% from the field and 45.5% from the 3-point line.

Two Tennessee players were picked in the second round, with the Pistons taking Chaz Lanier at No. 37 overall and the Memphis Grizzlies taking Jahmai Mashack at No. 59 overall.

Zakai Zeigler averaged 11.3 points, 5.4 assists, 2.6 rebounds, 1.8 steals at Tennessee

Zeigler starred at Tennessee over the last four seasons, quickly becoming the face of the program after being added late to the 2021 recruiting class as a relatively unknown three-star prospect. 

He averaged 11.3 points, 5.4 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.8 steals in 29.3 minutes per game over 118 career games at Tennessee, shooting 39.0% from the field and 33.1% from the 3-point line.

Zeigler had a career year last season, averaging 13.6 points, 7.4 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1.9 steals in 34.2 minutes per game while leading Tennessee to a second straight trip to the Elite Eight. 

During the season he became Tennessee’s all-time assists leader (747), single-season assists leader (257), the SEC’s single-season assists record holder and the first player in SEC history with 1,550 points, 700 assists, 350 rebounds and 250 steals. 

Chaz Lanier, Jahmai Mashack give Rick Barnes 10 NBA Draft picks at Tennessee

Lanier and Mashack on Thursday night became the ninth and 10th Tennessee players drafted during the Rick Barnes era.

Lanier in his one season at Tennessee averaged 18.0 points per game last season while shooting 43.1% from the field and 39.5% from the 3-point line. He made 123 3-pointers in 38 games, breaking the previous record of 118 held by Chris Lofton.

The Nashville native transferred to Tennessee from North Florida, picking the home-state Vols over Kentucky and BYU. He had a breakout senior year at North Florida in 2023-24, averaging 19.7 points per game and making 108 threes in 32 games, shooting a career-high 44.0% from the 3-point line.

Mashack, the 6-foot-4, 202-pound Fontana, Calif., native, was considered one of the best perimeter defenders in college basketball last season while averaging 6.0 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 38 games as a senior with the Vols. 

He was named to the SEC’s All-Defensive Team and was the Field of 68’s National Defensive Player of the Year, while also winning the Torchbearer Award, the top honor for a student at the University of Tennessee. 

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