Tennessee basketball coach Rick Barnes announced Friday that Long Island, New York, point guard Zakai Zeigler (pronounced: zuh-KY ZEE-glur) has signed with the Volunteers.
Zeigler has enrolled and will be eligible to play as a freshman with Tennessee this season.
“Zakai is a great story—the type of kid who’s just built to work hard and beat the odds,” Barnes said. “He’s got that New York City guard presence. He’s tough, he understands how to run a team and he’s a winner. As a natural point guard, he can control the tempo of the game on both ends of the floor. He turned a lot of heads with his shooting and all-around play at the Peach Jam. And we love that he guards full-court and has shown the ability to really impact the game defensively.”
Playing for his AAU team, the New York Lightning, Zeigler had a breakout showing in six games at the Peach Jam last month, averaging 15.3 points and 5.5 assists per game while boasting a 4.7 assist-to-turnover ratio. He also connected on 50 percent of his 3-point shots.
Against eventual Peach Jam champion Team Final, Zeigler had 23 points on 7-for-8 shooting from 3-point range while also tallying 10 assists, three steals, three rebounds with no turnovers. The Season Ticket rated Zeigler’s showing against Team Final as the “Best Performance” of the 2021 Peach Jam. Zeigler and the Lightning went 4-2 overall at the event.
Zeigler follows the likes of Bernard King, Ernie Grunfeld, Tobias Harris, Howard Wood and Kevin Punter Jr. as Vols who hail from the New York City area. He graduated from Our Saviour Lutheran School in The Bronx, but he played the 2020-21 season with Immaculate Conception High School in Montclair, New Jersey, averaging 20 points and 4.6 assists per game.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – With Tennessee football treating this week as though it is a game week, the Volunteers completed their 18th practice of preseason camp Wednesday morning. Offensive coordinator Alex Golesh spoke to local media after practice with the season eight days away.
“We’ve taken this week very much like a normal game week,” Golesh said. “This has worked out for us really well scheduling wise with the guys getting into school and us really essentially having almost two weeks to prepare like there would be a game this Saturday. Honestly, us as coaches needed that, to go through a normal game week… The players needed to see it.”
Something that has stood out to Golesh is the bond and work ethic of the quarterback room. Battling fiercely in practice, pushing each other to get better, all the while leading by example for what it means to be a Volunteer.
“All three are incredible human beings, they are all students of the game, they are up in the office hanging out the entire day,” Golesh noted of Harrison Bailey, Hendon Hooker and Joe Milton III. “Literally you walk into coach Halzle’s office, one of those guys is sitting in there. They are the model of what we want in a Vol football player. Tough, blue collar, gritty, hard-nosed football players.”
Head coach Josh Heupel has consistently produced some of the top offenses in college football in recent seasons, and this year’s Vols have a chance to join that group if they hit their keys.
“We’ve got to be consistent in what we do,” Golesh closed his availability saying. “I think that’ll be the sentiment all year offensively for us. What we do, consistency, playing harder than our opponent and I feel like we’ll be alright.”
Tennessee begins the 100th year at Neyland Stadium, Shields-Watkins Field next Thursday against Bowling Green with kickoff at 8 p.m. ET.
Tickets for the Bowling Green game, as well as season tickets and mini plans are available on AllVols.com.
The full transcript of Wednesday’s availability with coach Golesh can be seen below.
Offensive Coordinator/Tight Ends Coach Alex Golesh Transcript
On who will be calling plays on gameday…
“We’re working through all of that right now. We’ve genuinely done so much as a staff. There is so much different stuff coming in from what we were able to do at UCF to what Kodi (Burns) has brought, what Jerry Mack has brought, so we’re working through it. At the end of the day, that’s a good Coach Heupel question, and we’ll kind of settle on that as we get closer to gameday.”
On the versatile backgrounds of the coaching staff and how it helps the develop the offensive scheme…
“We’ve tried so much. A lot of it has to do also with the tempo of play. We’ve tried to put in through spring and summer, really all of those ideas. We spent a bunch of time pre-spring, we spent a bunch of time in spring, spent a bunch of time in May. We didn’t have the luxury to go out on the road (recruiting), so spent a bunch of time really tightening those ideas down. As we tightened them down—we had all summer, the NCAA allows you now to be with your kids in the summer—allowed us primarily to specialize packages. The situational football—third down, red zone—kind of bridge those ideas together, put the plan in place through the summer and fall camp. So now, we have a grab bag of things we can go to.
“The tempo of play, you try not to do a whole lot new week-to-week. Obviously, you end up scheming certain things to certain looks to certain things you’re expecting. Jerry Mack brought some awesome ideas, Kodi (Burns) brought some awesome ideas. Kodi is kind of like my go-to on, ‘man, how does the SEC do this? How do defenses attack certain things?’ Then obviously, (Coach Heupel) has been in this league, Glen (Elarbee) has been in this league. I don’t want to say grab bag, but it’s been a conglomerate of ideas through the summer. Put a bunch in fall camp, and now we’re kind of grab-bagging as we get pictures we’re presented. This week (is) a unique challenge with a new defensive coordinator (at Bowling Green).”
On how Joe Milton III has adapted to learning a new system…
“He’s really done a good job, really a great job of fitting in, adjusting, learning, growing. He spent a bunch of time in May, June, July learning the system. He’s a football-smart young man. He’s played in games that matter. For him, it’s just been a terminology, a progression, a read. The way we coach quarterbacks is unique. I think Joey (Halzle) has done an incredible job with him, doing the very best he can to prepare him. Really all of those quarterbacks, all three of those guys (Milton, Harrison Bailey, Hendon Hooker), we’ve put them in tough situations. Tried to create tough situations in practice and in scrimmages. I think Joe has caught on really, really well. He’s progressed. He’s gotten better. He’s had bad days, we all have, but he’s had bad days. My biggest point of emphasis offensively for us in general, quarterback position specifically, how do you respond to the bad day? I think in general, that’s been the message. The quarterback position, every position, right? A bunch young guys, a bunch of guys that haven’t played a whole lot, trying to instill confidence while bringing adverse situations into play. You can say, ‘adversity’s going to come. Adversity’s going to come. Adversity’s going to come.’ You just hope it doesn’t come for the first time Sept. 2 at Neyland, so you’re trying to create those situations. To me, not coaching the quarterbacks, I want to see how they respond. I think Coach Heupel’s in the same breath, and I think us as an offense are in the same breath at that position. Adversity’s coming. How do you respond and continue to instill confidence through those adverse situations? That has been the focus at that spot.”
On the team treating this week of camp as a game week…
“We’ve taken this week very much like a normal game week. For us, today was a Wednesday practice, yesterday was a Tuesday practice. This has worked out for us really well scheduling wise with the guys getting into school and us really essentially having almost two weeks to prepare like there would be a game this Saturday. Honestly, us as coaches needed that, to go through a normal game week before the normal game week. The players needed to see it. Again, the tempo of play, how we operate on offense, we don’t have a vast menu of a million plays. Hence, we’ve got to tighten it down and really prepare as if Saturday was gameday. I think Coach Heupel allowing us to do it this way has really helped. Again, yesterday was a Tuesday, today is a Wednesday, we walk off the field in a normal game week and tomorrow would be a walkthrough. Then we have fast Friday on Friday. As we’re treating it like a game week, do I feel like we’re ready? I’m glad we have an extra four days, but I think we’re about as ready as we’re going to get as if we were playing on Saturday.”
On the QB battle throughout camp…
“To be honest, tried to go in with a totally blank slate. All three of those guys have played a bunch of football. Hendon (Hooker) finished his career at Virginia Tech, started 23 games, you kind of had a feeling for what he was going to be because of what you saw on film, there was a ton of film to see. Harrison (Bailey) finished the season where you kind of had a feeling, but he was a young guy, he was a freshman, bullets were flying, he (handled it) how any 18-year-old kid would. Then Joe (Milton III) had some body of work, not a ton, so we went in with a completely blank slate. Literally, those guys split ones, twos and threes as we went through camp, with a fourth, and we gave them all an equal opportunity with the best skill guys, the best o-line, as we shuffled those skill guys and o-line, gave them the best opportunity to be successful. At least personally, I tried to have a really clean slate. I didn’t go into it with a hope that one guy was going to win it and another one wasn’t. Obviously, you want to clear the situation up and you genuinely hope that there are three fully capable guys to go do it. I truly believe we have three fully capable guys, who comes out first on gameday, I leave that up to coach Heupel and let him handle that situation, but I didn’t go into it with a preconceived notion. It probably was perceived that way by some, I had zero thought of it. All three are incredible human beings, they are all students of the game, they are up in the office hanging out the entire day. Literally you walk into coach Halzle’s office, one of those guys is sitting in there. They are the model of what we want in a Vol football player. Tough, blue collar, gritty, hard-nosed football players. Coach Heupel refers to it as poor, hungry and desperate, those three guys are, they resemble that. That’s what you want in a quarterback, that’s what you want in a leader. In terms of what I thought was going to happen, we kind of saw what happened and they had an equal opportunity to go do it.”
“Julian has done a pretty good job of learning. When I say pretty good, he has never blocked a soul in his life (played mostly WR in high school). He’s also never weighed 257 pounds, so there’s such a growth process. He’s the ultimate needs a year to get his butt whooped in the weight room, to wake up early and go through the grind of what college football is and should be, play on the scout team (to) learn (and) grow. I’ve been really pleasantly surprised with Julian. I had no idea what to expect. There’s a big body. I didn’t meet him until he moved into the dorms. Had film but didn’t have any idea of what the body was going to look like, mentally what he was capable of. He’s done a good job adjusting, he’s done a good job learning. I’ve been hard on him because I want to see if he’ll push through the hard and he has pushed through the hard. He’s had tough days and we’ve kind of kept pushing and pushing and pushing. I do think there’s a bright future for him. I think he does some really good things out flexed. I do think he’s a willing blocker (but) he’s got to become a tough blocker. But I think he’s learning and growing, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised with him.
“Miles was sick early in camp and lost some weight, (he) has bounced back and tried to recover from that. My hope is still that Miles helps this year at some point. I would say right this second, he’s fighting and battling to be in the rotation, but my hope is by middle of the year – which I said early on, I have never played a freshman tight end, ever, and I’ve been coaching for a while, never done it. Guys that are capable, that have played in the league, guy that was a Mackey finalist last year, never played those guys as freshmen. My hope is we still get Miles to that point. I think if he hadn’t gotten sick, it would’ve been a little bit easier for him to bounce back. It just took him two weeks to get back in the swing of things and he is still learning and figuring it out. I think mentally he’s capable, I think physically he’s willing and capable. I think we forget sometimes (with) freshmen – class has started, there’s obvious distractions now going on. It’s figuring out, what is a game week? We talked about this is a normal game week for us – well he’s got tutoring, he’s got class, football, got to watch film on his own, got to learn, got to grow, got to figure out the game plan. There’s a lot going on for a young man, for an 18-year-old. That’s not an excuse for him, it’s just going to take him a second to put it all together to be able to line up on a Saturday at noon and play. My hope is still that he can play this fall for us and help us, I just don’t know how early that’ll be in the season.”
On how the running back room has progressed, especially the depth of the room…
“(They’ve) done a really good job of figuring out the scheme. I think Jerry Mack (and) Matt Merritt, those guys have done an incredible job teaching those guys. That’s one position that I’m uber excited about going into gameday.
“Jabari (Small) has had the camp we all hoped he would. Tiyon (Evans), honestly in a lot of ways has surpassed my expectations. He’s started to figure out what it is to be a Division I college football player. He was here in the spring – I’ve recruited junior college my whole career – you come in from a junior college and it just hits you in the face, and it took him a while to figure it out. It really did. From how to take care of my body, how do I sleep, when do I go to tutoring? All of that, just how do I figure that out? It took him a minute (and) he was resistant a little bit at times to figuring it out. There was some nudging there. But I think time has put it all together. Having only football for three weeks for Tiyon was really, really good. I’m excited to see what he can do. He’s a different back than those other guys in the room. He’s a bigger back, been really pleasantly surprised with him. Jaylen Wright, man oh man, really excited about Jaylen. He is everything we had hoped he would be. Still a freshman, same sentiment as Miles Campbell. Now we just threw class on him, we threw the distractions around campus at him. He’s got to learn and grow, but I think he’s got a really, really bright future.
“The other guys in that room, with Marcus (Pierce) and Dee (Beckwith) and those guys, we’re still figuring out how the rest of that back end of that rotation shakes out. I think it will truly be by committee on the back end of it, and I think it will be by committee on the front end of it. We really need four guys ready to rock n’ roll Sept. 2. Obviously, those guys get nicked up as the season goes, COVID is a real deal right now, we got to have five to six of those guys ready. I’m excited about the three. I think Marcus has been steady Eddie for us and we’ll continue to kind of figure it out. I think it’ll be by committee on the back end of the rotation, but really excited about that group. I think it’ll be fun. I think those guys all bring a different element. It’s fun to be able to run different types of plays with those guys and they have the ability to catch the ball out of the backfield, which is an element that has been really, really fun to keep messing with.”
On if there has been any separation on the offensive line and his thoughts on Bowling Green…
“Offensive line, I think we’ve started to kind of hone in. Coach (Glen) Elarbee really wants to have a true two-deep. I feel like we’re close to that, but you really want on gameday – six, seven, eight guys that can go. Again, the tempo of play, you’d like to be able to roll some guys in there. We’ve done that. We did that at the previous spot where we were able to play six and seven guys in a game to keep guys fresh and keep them going. I think we’re really close there. I feel like we’ve got somewhere between seven and eight that we feel really, really good about rolling with, but again, until bullets are flying and it’s real, it’s really hard to tell. There is some experience there. You feel really good. I feel as good about the o-line probably as the running back spot, where we feel like we’ve got a little bit of depth and we can rock n’ roll – knock on wood injury bug – but we feel like we’ve got a little bit of depth to be able to get through and plug. We got to stay healthy there.
“Bowling Green presents a challenge in the sense that (they have) a new defensive coordinator (Eric Lewis) that hasn’t been a coordinator in a while. Last time he was a coordinator was at Weber State, prior to that Eastern Michigan, so a lot of unknown. You’re watching film – he was on the staff (but) he was not calling the plays (last season at BGSU). So, fun challenge for week one. I think you feel like you’ve got some feel for what’s going on, but I think a little bit of it will be figure it out kind of as you go. We’ve got to be consistent in what we do, and I think that’ll be the sentiment all year offensively for us. What we do, consistency, playing harder than our opponent and I feel like we’ll be alright. But, in terms of scheme, a little bit of a toss-up. They could come out and do whatever they please, so it’ll be fun. Ask me after the game.”
Tennessee football wide receiver Cedric Tillman spoke with the media Monday on game week before the season opener vs. Bowling Green Thursday in Knoxville.
Vols WR Cedric Tillman / Credit: 99.1 The Sports Animal
Tennessee football offensive lineman Jerome Carvin spoke with the media Monday on game week before the season opener vs. Bowling Green Thursday in Knoxville.
Vols OL Jerome Carvin / Credit: 99.1 The Sports Animal
Tennessee football defensive lineman Matthew Butler spoke with the media Monday on game week before the season opener vs. Bowling Green Thursday in Knoxville.
Vols DL Matthew Butler / Credit: 99.1 The Sports Animal
Tennessee head football coach Josh Heupel spoke with the media at his weekly Monday game week press conference before the season opener vs. Bowling Green Thursday in Knoxville.
Vols HC Josh Heupel / Credit: 99.1 The Sports Animal
Kacey Musgraves has just shared that she will be hitting the road in 2022, following the announcement her new album and film due out September 10, star-crossed.
The limited 15-city tour titled star-crossed: unveiled kicks off January 19, 2022 in Saint Paul, Minnesota and will wrap up February 20, 2022 in Los Angeles, California at STAPLES Center.
Fans can sign up for early ticket access at http://www.starcrossedunveiled.com/. American Express® Card Members can purchase tickets before the general public beginning Thursday, September 2nd at 10amlocal time through Wednesday, September 8th at10pm local time. Tickets go on sale to the general public Thursday, September 9 at 10am local time at http://www.kaceymusgraves.com/tour.
star-crossed: unveiled will feature opening acts King Princess and MUNA.
Additionally, Kacey has shared the next song and music video from the project, titled justified. Watch here:
star-crossed is the highly-anticipated new album from Kacey, “structured as a modern-day tragedy in three acts.” It will be released in conjunction with a full-length film streamed exclusively on paramount+. Watch the official trailer here:
On the heels of penning another #1 song, Luke Bryan‘s “Waves,” songwriter and artist Ryan Hurd has just announced his debut album, Pelago, to be released October 15.
The project was inspired by Ryan’s upbringing on the shores of Lake Michigan, and was produced with his childhood friend and longtime collaborator Aaron Eshuis. Additional collaborators include Jesse Frasure (Thomas Rhett, Kane Brown, Little Big Town) and Teddy Reimer.
Fans are already familiar with the first single from the project, “Chasing After You,” the first official duet with his wife Maren Morris.
They debuted the song at the 55th ACM Awards, and it is currently Top-15 (and climbing) at country radio.
In the past 2 months, Ryan has shared two more new tracks from Pelago, “Coast,” and “June, July, August.”
Ryan is a familiar name in the world of Nashville songwriters, having penned songs like “Sunrise, Sunburn, Sunset” and “Waves” for Luke Bryan, “Lonely Tonight” for Blake Shelton, Lady A‘s “What If I Never Get Over You,” and “You Look Good,” “Heartless” from Diplo (ft. Morgan Wallen), and Tim McGraw‘s “Last Turn Home.”
PELAGO track list;
1. “Pass It On”
2. “Coast”
3. “Chasing After You” (with Maren Morris)
4. “June, July, August”
5. “Palm Trees in Ohio”
6. “If I Had Two Hearts”
7. “Tab With My Name On It”
8. “What Are You Drinking”
9. “Hell is an Island”
10. “The Knife or the Hatchet”
11. “I Never Said I’m Sorry”
12. “Every Other Memory”
13. “Michigan for the Winter”
14. “To a T”
15. “Diamonds or Twine”
Tennessee has had eight losing season in the past 13 years.
The Vols haven’t been relevant in the SEC East Division race but once since 2007.
Some 37 players have hit the transfer portal since the start of last season (including three quarterbacks), a dozen wound up at Power 5 schools, four more were released from their National Letter of Intent and two more retired from the game due to injury.
“It’s going to take a while for Tennessee to get back to Tennessee,’’ said one SEC coach, speaking on the condition he not be identified.
“Tennessee fans need to be patience with Josh Heupel because Heupel inherited a mess, like Jeremy Pruitt inherited a mess, like Butch Jones inherited a mess.’’
A mess.
That’s what Tennessee football has been for much of the past 13 years.
A once-proud program hasn’t been able to compete with the elite in the SEC.
Tennessee hasn’t beaten Alabama since 2006, has one win over Florida since 2004 and just two wins over Georgia since 2009.
Ouch.
“Fans will need to be patient,’’ one SEC coach said. “Tennessee hasn’t been Tennessee since the year (2007) before (Phillip) Fulmer got fired (2008).’’
Tennessee fans are tired of being told to exercise patience, but it’s not Heupel’s fault he inherited a mess with a depleted roster.
So, Can Heupel get the job done at Tennessee?
“I like Josh Heupel,’’ one coach said. “He is going to be good on offense. My concern with Josh is his ability to recruit in an SEC environment. He has no clue.
“Hiring (defensive line coach) Rodney Garner helps because he’s one of founding fathers of SEC recruiting.’’
While Heupel is expected to call plays, he has entrusted his defense to Tim Banks, who was hired from the Penn State staff.
“I don’t know much about (defensive coordinator) Tim Banks,’’ one coach said. “It will be interesting to see what he can do with what he has. I know many (defensive players) entered the transfer portal.’’
Despite Tennessee’s myriad of coaching changes, the Vols have continued to recruit at a decent level, averaging out at about a 15 ranking over the past decade. But that hasn’t translated on the field or in the national regular-season polls.
“Tennessee is like a stock that everyone is hoping will be a 10 but it’s down to an 8.5,’’ one coach said.
The new album, which also shares the same name as their current tour, will arrive October 15th.
Talking about the new collection of songs, Zac Brown says, “The Comeback celebrates our collective resilience as a community. This music is about standing together and rediscovering our roots and what makes us human. We feel incredibly blessed to be back out on the road again, sharing these new songs with our fans.”
Zac adds, “The only good thing about getting knocked down is The Comeback when it comes back around.”
Zac Brown has a big hand in the new album, as he is a co-writer on every track, plus he also co-produced the project alongside frequent collaborator, Ben Simonetti.
The Comeback track listing;
1. “Slow Burn” – Zac Brown, Ben Hayslip, Ben Simonetti
2. “Out In The Middle” – Zac Brown, Luke Combs, Ben Simonetti, Jonathan Singleton
3. “Wild Palomino” – Zac Brown, Wyatt Beasley Durrette III, Ben Simonetti, Jonathan Singleton
4. “Us Against The World” – Zac Brown, Ben Simonetti, Jonathan Singleton
5. “Same Boat” – Zac Brown, Ben Simonetti, Jonathan Singleton
6. “Stubborn Pride” (feat. Marcus King) – Zac Brown, Marcus King, Ben Simonetti
7. “Fun Having Fun” – Zac Brown, Kenny Habul, Kurt Thomas, Ben Simonetti
8. “The Comeback” – Zac Brown, Wyatt Beasley Durrette III, Ray Fulcher, Ben Simonetti, Jonathan Singleton
9. “Old Love Song” – Zac Brown, Luke Combs, Ben Simonetti, Jonathan Singleton
10. “Any Day Now” – Zac Brown, Clay Cook, Josh Dunne, Ray Fulcher, Ben Simonetti, Jonathan Singleton
11. “Paradise Lost On Me” – Zac Brown, Wyatt Beasley Durrette III, Ben Simonetti, Jonathan Singleton
12. “GA Clay” – Zac Brown, Wyatt Beasley Durrette III, Neil Mason, Ben Simonetti, Jonathan Singleton
13. “Love & Sunsets” – Zac Brown, Luke Dick, Ben Simonetti
14. “Closer To Heaven” (feat. Gregory Porter) – Zac Brown, John Driskell Hopkins, Ben Simonetti
15. “Don’t Let Your Heart” – Zac Brown, Wyatt Beasley Durrette III, Levi Lowrey, Jimmy De Martini, Ben Simonetti
Giving fans a taste of what’s coming on the 15-song release, Zac Brown Band shared the track, “Slow Burn”…
Talking about the track, Zac says “‘Slow Burn’ is definitely about that first, young love. There are very specific memories that are tied to being in love for the first time. ‘Slow Burn’ captures the feeling of going back to places where the details of all those experiences that helped shape you come rushing back.”
Zac Brown Band is climbing the country song chart with their current single from The Comeback, “Same Boat”
Commenting on the first single from The Comeback, Zac Brown says of “Same Boat”, “The song means a lot to me because I’ve been hearing about how divided that we are, and everyone is…and I’d like for everyone to be reminded that we’re all the same. That human condition is something we all share together.”
