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Zakai Zeigler, Rick Barnes share emotional moment after Elite Eight loss
By Mark Kern
Published:
Zakai Zeigler and Rick Barnes have had a special run at Tennessee the last 4 years. During Zeigler’s 4 years at Tennessee, the Volunteers have went 109-35, making the NCAA Tournament all 4 times. They made the Elite Eight last season, and were hoping to go even further this year. However, the Volunteers once again got tripped up in the Elite Eight, losing to Houston, 69-50.
Zeigler had a tough shooting day, going 1-of-9 from the floor, finishing with 5 points and 5 assists.
As Barnes pulled Zeigler out for the final time, the 2 shared a moment where the point guard apologized to his coach. When talking to reporters after the game, Barnes said Zeigler never needs to apologize to him.
“He said, I’m sorry coach,” Barnes told reporters after the game. “I told him to stop. He never needs to apologize to me for anything.”
Once again, as the players were leaving the postgame press conference, Zeigler and Barnes once again shared a special moment that showed how special their relationship is.
A great point guard is an extension of their head coach, and these 2 showed that they were on the same page. Zeigler leads Tennessee with his name in the record books, as he is the school’s all-time leader in assists (742) and steals (216).
In today’s college basketball teams are going to look for guys to get in the transfer portal, but it will be extremely difficult for Barnes to find a point guard quite like Zeigler.
