Zakai Zeigler has become one of the most beloved players in Tennessee basketball history. On Friday, the 5-foot-9 point guard could make program history when the fourth-seeded Volunteers (25-6) take on 13th-seeded Texas (19-14) in the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament in Nashville.

Tennessee basketball is in Year 3 of a rebuild under Rick Barnes following the NBA departures of Grant Williams, Admiral Schofield and Jordan Bone. The Vols are facing North Carolina, a Tar Heels squad that will fall just short of a national title to Kansas in a little over 4 months.

The most notable of those is Zakai Zeigler repeating as SEC Defensive Player of the Year. He also received First Team All-SEC and SEC All-Defensive Team status. Ziegler is the first player in conference history to collect four SEC All-Defensive Team distinctions, while only three others have collected three.

Tennessee's Zakai Ziegler repeats as SEC defensive player of the year. The Vols are heading into the SEC tournament as the number four seed and have intentions to be crowned as conference champions by the end of the tournament.

Beloved Tennessee basketball guard Zakai Zeigler wrote his name into the Southeastern Conference history books on Monday after another stellar defensive campaign.