Zakai Zeigler takes center stage at the Garden in Vols' triumph of Miami

The kid from Long Island, like so many from any of New York City's boroughs, dreamed of playing on its fabled court. On Tuesday night, in his final season at Tennessee, that is where the Vols' guard got to take center stage.

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Zeigler didn’t lead the Vols in scoring. He often hasn’t since Chaz Lanier joined the team this season.

Lanier scored 22 points in No. 1 Tennessee’s 75-62 win over Miami in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden. But Zeigler was the most affective player on the floor.

That has happened often over the last three and a half years. And the setting, the stage, the basketball Mecca in midtown Manhattan couldn’t have been a more appropriate place for it to happen—again.

“He knows what the Garden is about,” Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said. “He knows it’s a stage instead of a court. Just getting him back here is really special for him."

Zeigler’s experiences at the Garden have varied.

Before his last visit two years ago he talked about getting off the subway buried deep beneath its hardwood floors at Penn Station and watching the New York Knicks on the screen outside.

Zeigler had to watch again—this time from the inside—as the Vols’ season ended, their NCAA Tournament run halted by Cinderella Florida Atlantic in the Sweet 16.

Zeigler was on the sideline for that one, hindered by an ACL tear just weeks before. But on Tuesday night, he made his best Garden memory.

He scored 13 points and recorded nine assists. He hit shots in critical moments and disrupted passes on the defensive end.

Tennessee (9-0) felt in control much of the game, but when the Hurricanes (3-7) did threaten or show signs of life, Zeigler did something to hold them off or had a hand in it.

“Being able to come back here and get a win in front of a lot of hometown friends, family, my grandmother’s here, some people that haven’t got to see my teammates play since high school maybe,” Zeigler said. “…Last time I was here, I was on a scooter, rolling around. Just being able to walk that hallway, being able to warm up, every moment out there just meant something to me.”

Zeigler’s return to his old stomping grounds was a triumphant one, but he has found a home elsewhere.

He has carved a new corner of the world in Knoxville, where he has cemented himself as one of the most adored players to ever come through there.

It’s a mutual love, though and was lent to perspective as he dazzled at the Garden in the same way he has dazzled at Food City Center.

When his family’s New York home was lost to fire, Tennessee fans rallied and raised $350,000 in relief before the NCAA shut it down.

Zeigler hasn’t forgotten.

“Loyalty,” Zeigler said as a short, but heavy answer after he was asked what has kept him at Tennessee in an age when it’s easier and even financially more beneficial to go play somewhere else.

"He's as loyal as any person that I've ever been around,” Barnes added. “I don't know that there is a more beloved Volunteer than him.”

Perhaps even bigger stages await this Vols team—stages the program has never been on before.

If there are, Zeigler will be no small part to it.

“He’s been incredible,” Barnes said. “His DNA, how he’s impacted our program is unlike many players can ever do.”

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