Zakai Zeigler continues to rack up the preseason accolades ahead of his last season at Tennessee.

The Vols' senior guard was named First Team All-SEC by league coaches on Wednesday, just weeks after earning first team recognition by the media.

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Zeigler joined Johni Broome (Auburn), Walter Clayton Jr. (Florida), Mark Sears (Alabama) and Wade Taylor IV (Texas A&M) on the first team list.

Heading into his fourth season in the program, Zeigler is expected to again play a key role for preseason No. 12 Tennessee on both ends of the floor after averaging 11.8 points and 6.1 assists during the Vols' SEC championship and NCAA Tournament Elite Eight run in 2023-24.

A stingy defender, Zeigler averaged 1.7 steals and 2.8 rebounds during SEC Defensive Player of the Year campaign. He was recently named a Preseason All-American by numerous outlets, including Blue Ribbon Yearbook and made the preseason watch list for the Naismith Trophy.

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"It didn't take long before (Zeigler) established himself within our program, with our team," Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said earlier this month. "It took him literally a week on campus four years ago to let everybody know that he was here to compete and play at the highest level. And what he does, day in and day out is what makes him highest level. And what he does, day in and day out is what makes him special. I mean, you all watch him through the years and the way he plays is the way he practices. He's extremely hard on himself, sometimes to a fault, but there's no one that wants to win and no one is going to prepare any harder than Zakai. He's wanting to have a great year and not just individually, but one thing that defines him is he's want to win.

"And, I think he's done a really good job again with Jahmai (Mashack) and Jordan (Gainey) trying to get the younger players and the new guys to understand we've got some big holes to fill and we need those guys to play at an extremely high level."

Tennessee, which lost to Indiana, 66-62 in a preseason charity exhibition game last Sunday, will open its 2024-25 season against Gardner-Webb (7 p.m. ET, SEC Network+) at Food City Center.

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