Dan Fleser
Upon arriving at the University of Tennessee from different coasts and different backgrounds, Jahmai Mashack and Zakai Zeigler realized in short order that, as freshman basketball players, they were largely the same person regarding a specific purpose.
“The goal in this game is to win,” Mashack said, “And I think Zakai came in with the same energy and the same competitiveness. And I think when you have two guys with the same goal and kind of wanting to do whatever you can to fulfill that goal, I think you get success like this.”
Their collaboration is quantified by 104 Vols victories during the past three-plus seasons. They’ve reached the postseason of their final season, beginning with the conference tournament quarterfinals on Friday in Nashville.
Included in those wins, to date, are an SEC regular season championship (2024) and the program’s first conference tournament championship in 43 years (2022). Mashack and Zeigler will play in their fourth NCAA tournament next week. The Vols advanced as far as the Elite Eight last season.
“I really wish every coach would have a chance to coach two guys that you learn through them that hard work is a talent,” UT coach Rick Barnes said. “Because I’ve never had to coach hard work with them.”
In trying to grasp the experience he has shared with Zeigler, Mashack said, “It’s something you can’t write. It’s storybook.”
Their story hasn’t reached a conclusion yet and it’s already outdated as far as longevity. Seven seniors were honored after the Vols’ final regular season home game last Saturday. Mashack and Zeigler were the only two to have logged four seasons at UT. The transfer portal promotes travelogues, thereby conspiring against sagas like theirs.
Otherwise, their narrative is uncommon primarily for the scope of the fulfillment.
Since they’re all about winning, it’s no surprise that Zeigler and Mashack both have been elite defenders. Zeigler this season became the first player in SEC history to be named to the conference’s all-defensive team for four seasons and the third player to be named defensive player of the year multiple times. Mashack joined Zeigler this season on the all-defensive team.
It’s surprising that Mashack hasn’t been an all-defensive fixture as well. There’s some irony associated with the honor as well. Many UT fans will remember him more for a singular offensive feat – the 35-foot game-winning jumper he swished against Alabama on March 1 – than all the times he crashed to the court taking charges or tumbled over a scorer’s table in pursuit of victory.
The shot brings us to the other half of the storybook. Two days after the big basket, Mashack announced a fund-raising drive for a local food bank in conjunction with the win. Who thinks of something like that? Someone who’s a two-time SEC community service team honoree.
Zeigler was on the receiving end of such thoughtfulness in the spring of 2022 when his family’s residence in Queens, N.Y., was destroyed by fire. In a span of 48 hours – about the same amount of time it took for Mashack to initiate his food bank fund-raiser – Tennessee fans contributed $363,000 to a GoFundMe drive, enabling Zeigler’s family to relocate to Knoxville.
The fans followed up by giving the then-freshman point guard a loud ovation when he entered the following home game.
“The love and the energy came right back into me,” Zeigler said at the time. “It just showed me how much they love me besides the GoFundMe and everything.”
You can write this: Mashack and Zeigler have won over more hearts than games.
-----
Dan Fleser is a 1980 graduate of the University of Missouri, who has covered University of Tennessee athletics since 1988. He is a member of the Tennessee Sportswriters, U.S Basketball Writers and Greater Knoxville Sports Halls of Fame. He can be reached at danfleser3@gmail.com.