NASHVILLE – Chattanooga’s Dan Earl and Tennessee’s Zakai Zeigler were voted Tennessee Sports Writers Association Men’s Basketball College Coach and Player of the Year, respectively, as announced this week by the organization. Earl and Ziegler will be honored at the annual TSWA Hall of Fame banquet on Thursday, July 10 in Baird Chapel at Cumberland University.
Earl led Chattanooga to a 29-9 overall record and Southern Conference regular season championship, tying the program record for wins in a season. The Mocs posted a 15-3 mark to win the SoCon regular season title and Earl was voted SoCon Coach of the Year.
Chattanooga claimed five victories to earn the 2025 NIT Championship, the program’s first-ever NIT title, with two of those wins in overtime and only one at home (two on the road, two at neutral site). It marked the first SoCon team since 1959 (West Virginia) to reach the NIT title game. Earl has posted 68 wins over his first three seasons, the most by a Mocs head coach in program history.
Zeigler won SEC Defensive Player of the Year for the second season in a row, becoming the third individual do so, and became the first four-time SEC All-Defensive Team honoree in league history. He was named First Team All-SEC by the conference’s coaches for the second consecutive season and a Third Team All-American by all four major outlets.
The Long Island, N.Y., native was among five finalists for the Bob Cousy Award (best point guard), was among four finalists for Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award and made the Wooden Award Top 15 national ballot. He set the SEC single-season assists record (275), the UT career assists mark (747; third in SEC history) and the UT career steals record (251; tied for ninth in SEC history).
He averaged 13.6 points, 7.4 assists (fifth nationally), 2.6 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game. Zeigler had five-plus assists in 32 of 37 outings, with eight-plus in 18 games and 10-plus in six contests. He scored in double figures 30 times, with 15-plus in 18 appearances and six double-doubles. The senior helped UT post a 30-8 overall record, reach the Elite Eight and finish fifth in the final AP Poll.