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Report: Zakai Zeigler to play in NBA Summer League

IMG_3593by: Grant Ramey06/27/25GrantRamey
Zakai Zeigler, Tennessee Basketball | Alex Martin/Journal and Courier / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
(Alex Martin/Journal and Courier / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images) Tennessee Volunteers guard Darlinstone Dubar (8) and Tennessee Volunteers guard Zakai Zeigler (5) smile after a Tennessee Volunteers basket Friday, March 28, 2025, during the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 game against the Kentucky Wildcats at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Zakai Zeigler will play in the NBA Summer League with the Detroit Pistons, according to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony. The former Tennessee Basketball point guard went undrafted during the NBA Draft Wednesday and Thursday night.

Zeigler in May filed a lawsuit seeking a fifth year of eligibility at Tennessee, but the injunction was denied by a federal judge two weeks ago.

Two Tennessee players heard their names called in the second round Thursday night, with the Pistons taking Chaz Lanier at No. 37 overall. Jahmai Mashack was the final pick in the draft, going at No. 59 overall to the Memphis Grizzlies, via a trade with the Houston Rockets.

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.