Zakai Zeigler has been a staple player at Tennessee for the last 4 years, helping lead them to the NCAA tournament all 4 years of his career. After going the the Round of 32, Sweet 16, and Elite 8 twice, that would wrap up his college career, or so we thought. News broke less than a month ago that Ziegler would file a lawsuit against the NCAA, looking for a preliminary injunction in an effort to get an extra year of eligibility.
The only real argument Zeigler had was that he suffered a torn ACL against Arkansas towards the end of the 2022-2023 season, but that was too late in the season to receive a medical redshirt. 1 of the 2 main reasons Zeigler was seeking a 5th year was for NIL compensation. The NCAA states that an athlete has 4 years of eligibility within a 5-year window, barring any injury complications, and since Ziegler used up his 4 years of eligibility, he will not be allowed to receive NIL compensation.
This is the big one: A Tennessee court denies a preliminary injunction in the eligibility case brought by Tennessee basketball player Zakai Zeigler. pic.twitter.com/2Cr3xqvMci
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) June 12, 2025
Zeigler and Zeigler's team is arguing that the 5th year for athletes is arguably the most important year for athletes NIL wise. Which, if you look at previous 5th year players, the statistics agree with Zeigler and his team.
In the lawsuit it stated that Zeigler could potentially earn anywhere from 2-4 million through NIL if he received a 5th year, but with Zeigler missing the Covid-19 extra year window, and Zeigler didn't play at a JUCO which could potentially grant an extra year following the Diego Pavia lawsuit, effectively ending Zeigler's college career
Another big reason Zeigler wanted a 5th year was just to play basketball. As a small guard, his future in the NBA isn't very bright, so why not fight to play the sport you love for 1 more year? He has been a major impact for Tennessee over his last 4 years and would definitely love another attempt at being apart of their first Final 4 team in program history. Sadly for Zeigler, his college career has come to an end, but not before leaving his mark on the program, finishing as the all-time leader in assists and steals in program history, and being 1 of the best guards in Tennessee history.