Zakai Zeigler filed a lawsuit Tuesday as he seeks a fifth year of eligibility in college. The point guard’s career concluded in March following four decorated seasons with Tennessee basketball.
Zeigler is being represented by Litson PLLC and The Garza Law Firm as he questions the NCAA’s redshirt rule. He filed the lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee.
“(Zeigler) seeks to compete in the fifth year of his five-year eligibility window while pursuing a graduate degree,” the lawsuit states. “But he finds himself arbitrarily barred from doing so by an NCAA rule that limits athletes to participating in only four seasons of intercollegiate competition within the five-year window (the “Four-Seasons Rule”). As a result, he cannot compete or earn NIL compensation during his fifth year-the most lucrative year of the eligibility window for the vast majority of athletes.”
Zeigler won his second consecutive SEC Defensive Player of the Year this past season to conclude a historic four-year career on Rocky Top. He was also named to the All-SEC First Team and the All-SEC Defensive Team to become the first four-time All-Defensive Team selection in SEC basketball history. He’s the third multiple-time SEC Defensive Player of the Year.
“All NCAA athletes should be eligible to compete and earn NIL compensation during each year of the five-year window-not just those selected to redshirt,” the lawsuit states. “By prohibiting fifth-year competition for most athletes, including Zeigler, the NCAA eliminates the most experienced, productive, and highest-paid group of players from the labor pool, creating a substantial anticompetitive effect that furthers no academic purpose. And as a result, the market output—the product viewed by consumers-is harmed.”
Zeigler averaged 13.1 points, 7.5 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game during the regular season as a senior. He averaged 14.1 points, 7.0 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 2.1 steals during SEC play, while shooting 34.5% from three.
The Long Island, New York native scored double-digit points in 24 of 30 games, scoring 13-plus in 18 of them, 16-plus in 12 and 20-plus in two. Zeigler dished out at least six assists in 25 contests, with eight-plus in 15, 10-plus in four and a career-high 15 in two.
“If you really know his background and where he is, you can’t help but love him in more ways than you can imagine,” Rick Barnes said about Zeigler after Tennessee’s win over South Carolina on senior day. “Because what he has been able to do for his family, and that’s where the NIL has been a wonderful thing. He has done so much to make it easier and better for his family. It’s just gonna be different, because he’s been a guy that every day in practice, I knew what he was gonna do for us.”
Zeigler was one of five finalists for the Bob Cousy Award, which is given annually to the best point guard in the country. He was also named an All-America Honorable Mention by College Hoops Today, was on the Naismith Trophy Midseason Team, the USBWA Oscar Robertson Trophy Midseason Watch List and a Naismith Defensive Player of the Year finalist.
