Zakai Zeigler’s lawsuit seeking a fifth year of eligibility with Tennessee Basketball is not off to a promising start. According to Sportico, the NCAA on Monday motioned a federal judge to deny Zeigler’s motion for an injunction in the antitrust lawsuit filed on May 20.
“The NCAA’s motion,” Sportico’s Michael McCann wrote, “sends a warning that Zeigler’s lawsuit could open the door to numerous players staying on teams for years after they graduate — and taking spots away from incoming freshmen.
Litson PLLC and Garza Law Firm filed the complaint on behalf of Zeigler last month alleging that the NCAA’s rule permitting four seasons of eligibility within a five-year eligibly window is an unlawful restraint of trade under federal and state antirust laws.
Zeigler’s legal team projected a fifth season to be worth between $2 million and $4 million based on analysis from Spyre Sports Group, the NIL collective the University of Tennessee works with.
NCAA: Lawsuit hurts ‘student-athletes who dream of being the next Zakai Zeigler’
“(Zeigler) argues,” McCann added, “there’s a less restrictive approach where the NCAA could allow for an additional season if a player completed their undergraduate degree in four years, meaning they did not red shirt and their academic advancement followed the typical path for college students.”
The NCAA on Monday replied in the brief writing that Zeigler is attempting to become the first four-year Division I player in college athletics to get a fifth year via the court system
The brief also noted that Zeigler returning would take away a roster spot from an incoming freshman, though Tennessee still has one open scholarship spot remaining on its 2025-26 roster.
In general, according to Sportico, the NCAA brief “estimates that if college seniors who played four seasons could play another season and chose to do so, somewhere between 20% and 25% of roster spots that would have gone to incoming freshmen would be lost.
“While Plaintiff focuses only on what that means for himself,” the NCAA wrote, according to Sportico, “he does so to the detriment of the entering student-athletes who dream of being the next Zakai Zeigler.”
The NCAA also argued that granting a fifth year for Zeigler would open up unlimited options for players to attempt to play five years and beyond.
Sportico reported U.S. District Judge Katherine A. Crytzer will hold a hearing on Zeigler’s motion for a preliminary injunction on Friday afternoon in a federal courthouse in Knoxville.
Zakai Zeigler coming off career-best senior season at Tennessee
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.
Zeigler’s class is the first after the COVID pandemic to not automatically get a fifth year of eligibility. Student-athletes affected by the pandemic — players that began their careers as far back as 2016 — were given fifth years.
“To be clear,” the complaint filed on behalf of Zeigler read, “Zeigler does not challenge the overall five-year window, but rather the arbitrary four-year competition limitation within it. Indeed, permitting NCAA athletes like Zeigler to compete while pursuing graduate degrees in their fifth year of eligibility would further the NCAA’s purported academic mission far more effectively than other widely accepted NCAA practices like redshirting
“Zeigler files this lawsuit to seek relief so that the NCAA be enjoined from enforcing the Four-Seasons Rule against him and permitting him to compete during the 2025-2026 basketball season while pursuing a graduate degree.”
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