Knoxville, Tenn. — University of Tennessee men’s basketball team Chaz Lanier and Zakai Zaigler have achieved third-team All-American status in Sports News, as announced Wednesday morning.
Sports News Nationals are one of four groups. Other groups come from Associated Press, NABC and USBWA. The NCAA determines the overall national population. It is the first of that quartet to release that selection.
The only teammate duo Ranier and Zeygler on the list. They were the second pair of Tennessee teammates who won national honors in the same season, joining Ernie Grunfeld and Bernard King (1975-76 and 1976-77).
Additionally, Lanier and Zeygler are currently the 27th and 28th official nationals in program history.
A fifth-year guard, Ranier averaged 17.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game during the regular season. He shot 40.5% from the 3-point range on 8.35 attempts per game, he is one of three qualified Division I players, and he is the only player in the Power Five League, but he shot more than 40% from deep innings with at least eight tries per contest.
In his first season as a volunteer after moving from North Florida, Lanier ranks in the top 10 in the country with a total of 3 pointers (105) and 3 pointers per game (3.39). The AP First Team All-Sec picks are third in the SEC in both the 3-point percentage and field goal (197) and fifth in average scores.
The 6-foot-5, 207-pounder in Nashville, Tennessee is the fourth transfer to receive national designations, following Danny Schultz (1963-64), Austin “Red” Robbins (1965-66) and Dalton Necht (2023-24). When Schultz and Robbins came from junior college, only Ranier and Necht, who were praised for consecutive years, joined the volunteers at another Division I school.
Zeigler is the senior security guard ranked No. 1 in program history with Steals (239) and second in Assists (696) and 11th and 4th in SEC history, respectively. His 224 assists this year are four separate from breaking the single-season program record on the SEC list.
Zeygler, from Long Island, New York, recorded 13.1 points, 7.5 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.9 steels per game during the regular season. He repeated as SEC Defensive Player of the Year and as the first Team All-Sec recipient.
Zeigler, alongside Lanier, is taking part in the top 15 national polls for the Wooden Awards. He is also a watchlist selection for the 15 Nice Miss Defensive Player of the Year, alongside senior guard Jamai Mashak for the third season in a row. The 5-foot-9, 172-pounder ranks fifth in the nation on average, tallying at least six on 25 of 30 outings, eight or more in half, and four digits in four digits.
Lanier, Zeygler and No. 8/6 Tennessee (25-6, 12-6 seconds) live at ESPN at 3:30pm on Friday at Bridesten Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.
To catch up with the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team on social media, follow us on @vol_hoops on Instagram and X/Twitter, and Tennessee Basketball on Facebook.
2024-25 Sports News All American
First Team
Johnny Bloom, Auburn
Walter Clayton Jr., Florida
Cooper Flag, Duke
Mark Sears, Alabama
Braden Smith, Purdue
Second Team
Eric Dixon, Villanova
PJ Haggerty, Memphis
Cam Jones, Marquette
John Tonjae, Wisconsin
JT Toppin, Texas Tech
Third Team
LJ Cryer, Houston
Ryan Calkbrenner, Clayton
Chaz Lanier, Tennessee
RJ Luis Jr., St. John’s
Zakai Zeygler, Tennessee
