INDIANAPOLIS — Tennessee basketball's season ended in its loss to Houston in the Elite Eight on Sunday.

This also marked the end of the careers of multiple seniors. This included Zakai Zeigler and Jahmai Mashack who have been massive parts of the Vols' teams the past four years.

After the game, both Zeigler and Mashack gave heart-felt messages on their UT careers. Here's what they said.

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Q. For Zakai and Jahmai, how do you balance the highs from this season with the heartbreak from today?

ZAKAI ZEIGLER: Well, you know, we have done some things this season that some people can never say they have done in their life, you know. Making March Madness is a huge blessing. Making the Elite Eight, Sweet 16, round of 32, we did some things that some people in their life can never say they got close to.

I'm just thankful, really, that I have been able to be around guys like this and be coached by the coaches that have been here with me. We have had some highs and lows this season, but I don't feel like we folded at all through it all. Through it all, we became a brotherhood. When we first got together this season, it was weird. It was weird and a lot of different personalities, and for it to get to this point and for everybody on this team to be able to call them brothers and to actually mean it, it means something to me. These are people I'm going to talk to for the rest of my life, people that I love. These are my brothers, and today we didn't get the outcome that we wanted and, you know, it was all part of God's plan. We're thankful for the opportunity and all the blessings that we went through this whole season.

A lot of people don't really realize everything that we've been through... guys transferring, guys getting hurt. Some days in practice getting down to eight scholarship guys, seven scholarship guys, and not realizing that -- we're saying this to y'all, but y'all don't realize how hard that really is for each and every one of us, including the coaches.

I love these guys to death. They're people that changed my life and I just love these guys to death and I'm just thankful that I was part of a team like this.

JAHMAI MASHACK: I was going to do this if we won. I told myself I was going to do this if we won or if we lost. I'm going to give all the glory to God. He's put me in this situation and I wouldn't be who I was if I didn't do that first and foremost, whether I lost or whatever.

It's really hard to say or think about any of the highs because I wanted to win so bad, especially for these guys right here, for the Vol fan base. It's hard. I'd been telling everybody since I got here, this is something that we represent, but this is something I have done my whole life. It's really not about me. I don't care about getting any of the glory. I don't care about getting any of the accolades, nothing like that. I just care about shining the light on this guy right here and these two guys right here. I seen them put in so much work. I seen Coach Barnes be the most consistent person. Even though we fight and get into it, we get right back to practice and coaching. He loves to coach me and he knows how much I put in this game. I really wanted to get there for him. I wanted people to realize how good of a coach he is. Sometimes communication can be off between him and the players and that happens, but, man, I just wanted to get there for him. I wanted to get there for the Vol fans, man. I wanted them to have something that they could be proud of, you know what I mean? And it's hard. It's hard, but we're going to have to fight through it.

These guys are my brothers for life. It feels weird not being able to play with Zakai anymore. Been doing that for four years. That's been my guy for four years. I'm never going to play with nobody like him, man. That's my brother. We get into it a lot. We joke around with each other a lot. He knows I joke with him, he jokes with me. That's just how we bond, but I don't take that for granted. These are going to be my brothers for life.

Same thing with Jordan. One of the easiest guys to talk to. One of the easiest guys to get along with, and it's just tough, man. I love these guys, man.

Q. For Zakai, it's been an amazing career for you in Knoxville, SEC Defensive Player of the Year, SEC Record Holder For Assists. What can you say about your legacy and the stamp you're leaving in Knoxville?

ZAKAI ZEIGLER: Well, coming into Knoxville, I didn't have any expectations for anything like that. All I did was ask Coach Barnes for a chance and he gave it to me. The mark that they left on me and my family, they changed our lives, really. I'm just so thankful for each and every person that's a part of Vol Nation. I'm so thankful for the coaches, so thankful for my teammates, so thankful for everybody that's part of Tennessee as a whole. Accolades, I couldn't do anything like that without my teammates. I couldn't do anything like that without my coaches.

The mark that Tennessee has left on me is really crazy to just think about. It's been the best four years of my life... changed my life, and I feel like Knoxville is a place I'll call home forever. So everything that I've done there, everything that they've done for me has been nothing less than great and I wouldn't even say ups and downs. Everything has been up, really. Vol Nation, I love you guys and I appreciate everything they've done for me and my family. Appreciate the coaches and I appreciate my teammates.

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