Austin Price: Hello, friends, and welcome into Vol Club Confidential episode seven. We have an exciting show for you tonight as we transition a little bit to basketball. We'll talk football, too, and that exciting signing day celebration that Spyre has planned coming up with the Vol Club on the 21st. And then we'll do that with Brandon Spurlock in just a minute, but Tennessee's basketball team, 9-1 on the season coming off a big 56-53 win up in Brooklyn over Maryland. First time those two teams have met since the 1980s. And of course the Orange Bowl's coming up December 30th, Tennessee and Clemson. The Tennessee basketball team, the Tennessee football team both ranked sixth nationally as we sit here in the middle part of December. An exciting time here on Rocky Top. Now let's bringing in Brandon Spurlock of Spyre. Brandon, Vol Club, big signing day celebration coming up on the 21st. How can fans find out more about the event? Brandon Spurlock: Yeah, we're really pushing hard here. Closing on that date, December 21st, 6:30 PM at the press room downtown, so really excited. I don't know that we've done as a university done a signing day event here in several years and so really trying to take it to another level and do a twist on the traditional signing day event. I know you and Brent Hubbs will be involved and having Coach Heupel there. And actually, the twist for this one is, and I don't know if it's been done, but having some of the actual signees present. Austin Price: It's never been done before. Brandon Spurlock: Has it not? Okay, I figured you'd know about that. So hopefully that's something to get people out. We've got a pretty exciting flow. We've got a VIP event before the 6:30 time that we're working with people on, but starting at 6:30. Not all the players, but the ones that are here early, they're enrolled early, they'll be there and we'll have them set up around the room where people be able to meet them, get autographs, spend some time with them. And they'll hear from you guys and Coach Heupel about really a state of the union about the season that we just had, but most importantly focusing on signing day and what's ahead. Austin Price: Yeah, Brent Hubbs and I will break down the class and then we will talk about and tell recruiting stories with the current members of the class. And then of course the coaching staff, which is led by Coach Heupel. Basketball season in full swing, as we just talked about, Tennessee 9-1 on the year. Big game next week on the road at Arizona, but once they return home for SEC play you all will have some ... I mean, not tailgates because nobody's going to try to be outside in January, but some inside type tailgate stuff during the games and some watch parties. Brandon Spurlock: Yeah, I think this is the cool part of having your programs competing at the highest level. You get the whole calendar to work with. Not just football, but baseball and basketball. So in the spring we did the baseball porches. We did some of that early on as we were getting the Vol Club off the ground. With football, we did the tailgates and with basketball we're going to do watch parties here at our office. We've got a pretty good setup to do that and then we're going to take that show on the road. So Vol Club members should be looking out for that soon in terms of major cities and then cities where we have an interest between Nashville, Memphis, tri-Cities and Chattanooga doing those watch parties. And then the other thing that we've got going right now for our members or new members is anyone that does an annual membership before the end of the year. There's certain promotions that they can take advantage of in terms of gift cards and things like that, so check out thevolunteerclub.com for all that information, the signing day event, the promotions and then the watch parties. We'll be reaching out on those. Austin Price: That's right. And make sure you check the newsletter with the Volunteer Club. Now, let's get to the main attraction. It's the little big guy, Zakai Zeigler. How are you? Joined by the man of the hour, Zakai Ziegler. Sophomore year underway. You guys are 9-1, as we talked about a little bit earlier in the show. How different does this year feel versus last year, though, and having been in the system for a year? Zakai Zeigler: Honestly, I just feel like I got a much bigger role. Last year I didn't really know what I was getting into. I was just trying to do whatever it takes to get on the court and whatever it takes to impact the team, but this year I started to, as the summer was coming along, I knew that I had more of a standard. And I'll be on team scouting reports and I'll pretty much have to get past some key defenses and I'll have to know more what I'm doing. I wouldn't be able to just get out there and play, but it is now just I have to know that I'm on somebody's key list. Austin Price: This is episode seven of Vol Club Confidential. Who knows how many will do 100, 1,000, whatever. I don't think there'll ever be two contrasting voice styles. You've got the pride of Rogersville, Tennessee here and then you've got the pride of Long Island here. So you've got the country twang and then you've got the New York. Zakai Zeigler: Yeah, everybody get on me about my voice. A lot of people tell me my voice don't match my body. I've been hearing that since I was in sixth grade. Austin Price: All right, so let's go all the way back. When you're a kid in New York, at what point did you truly remember loving basketball the way you do? Zakai Zeigler: Honestly, I took the transition because I used to hate basketball, honestly. When I was little my mom made me play. I liked football and that was the only thing I ever wanted to do. My cousin was a football player and she had told me she was going to sign me up for basketball and I just started crying. I was like, "Man, I'm not trying to do that." That sport's for girls. It's not enough contact. And then I went to first practice, went to the first game and I did pretty good. And I was like it's not too bad, but then eighth grade I finally said, "Yeah, no more football," and I'm going to just stick with basketball. Austin Price: You used to ride around, you'd take those subway cars. Mike Wilson did a great story on you last year about how you'd hide out from the conductor because you didn't have the money to pay for the subway ride. When you're going to those courts and you're showing up, everybody's going to look at him and go, "He can't play. Look, he's too short," this and that. How much pride did you take in that? I'm going to show you. Zakai Zeigler: I took a lot of pride. And then honestly, going to the courts, it wasn't that I was little. It was that I was from Long Island. That's what it was more so because I used to spend a lot of time with my friends that lived in Queens, Harlem, the Bronx. And so at one point a lot of people did think I was from Queens and somebody said something. And I was like, "Man, I'm from Long Island." And they was like, "Y'all a bunch of soft boys." So that's where it really came from originally. A lot of people not respecting Long Island and then at this point I feel like it's a lot of hoopers out of Long Island now that's well respected. Austin Price: How much do you like the outdoor courts? Is that basketball in its most pure essence for you? Zakai Zeigler: Definitely. It's more like a vibe. It's like a safe space. Everybody's just outside and it just feels more free instead of just being inside. Austin Price: I know it's not based in New York, big fan of White Man Can't Jump? Zakai Zeigler: Yeah, definitely. I watched that movie maybe 100 times. I love that movie. Austin Price: That's your jam? Zakai Zeigler: Yeah. Austin Price: You Wesley Snipes? Zakai Zeigler: Yeah, that's me. I'm that. I could jump a little bit. Not too much, but a little bit. Austin Price: In those games you're a trash talker. I mean, is that where you perfected it? Zakai Zeigler: Definitely. Me and my mom, we trash talk a little bit to each other. And even say I'm playing bad in the game, she'll probably trash talk me the worst out of everybody. Austin Price: Whoa, your mom trash talks you? Zakai Zeigler: Yes. If I'm playing bad, she will trash talk me the worst out of everybody. I can tune everything out, but once I hear her say something I'll be like, "Oh, my God, she got to stop." Because she knows how to get me weird, the weird-- Austin Price: Is that motivation? Zakai Zeigler: Definitely, but we go back and forth all the time. Even if it's a workout and I'm missing shots and I'm starting to get mad at myself, she'll say ... This was her favorite saying when I was growing up. If I'm playing bad, she'll say I was playing like a girl. And then she'll be like, "If you wanted to be a cheerleader you should have just told me that." And that used to make me heated, but that did make me play better. So I'm glad she did that, but still to this day we still trash talk. Austin Price: So what you're telling me is you and your mom on game day would be the equivalent of Reggie Miller and Spike Lee? Zakai Zeigler: Yes. Austin Price: You're trash talking your mom the way he trash talks Spike Lee? Zakai Zeigler: Yes. I can't answer her phone call on the game day. I can text her because she can't say what she wants to say through a text. She can't emphasize it as much, but I cannot talk to her on that phone because of how much she trash talks me before a game. Seriously, she's crazy. Austin Price: So you go back home, you get the big win. I know y'all didn't offensively play as well as you wanted to, but you get MVP up there in Brooklyn. How big was that for you just because you're going back to your home state? Zakai Zeigler: Yeah. I mean, it was a good feeling, but honestly I didn't realize it until today how big it was. I was talking to my cousin and he had brought it up and I was just like, "Yeah, we won that. It was a fun game." And he was like, "Man, sometimes you just got to sit back and realize what you actually just did." It was times that I dreamed of being in those positions and playing in the Barclay Center. And actually when I was in middle school I played in the Barclay Center when they had first remade it and that was the brand new courts. That's when Deron Williams was there and it was really big just to be able to come back and now from transitioning from middle school to be there in college, but it was a really, really fun experience. Austin Price: Knicks or Nets? Zakai Zeigler: Nets, for sure. Austin Price: Not a Knicks guy, huh? Zakai Zeigler: No. Yeah, I'm all the way a Nets fan. Austin Price: You like Madison Square Garden, though? Zakai Zeigler: Not after the performance we had last year, so no, but I do like how ... Austin Price: But that's the Mecca, though, for any sport, whether it's an entertainment for a concert or basketball, hockey, whatever. To play in MSG is a big deal. Zakai Zeigler: Yeah, definitely. I remember I used to because the trains I would take the main platform was Penn Station. And it's right under MSG. So one time I come out the train, I would just be like, "Wait a second." It's a big screen outside they used to play the games on, so it would be really cool just to sit out there and watch those games. And last year to be able to play in there, it was something checked off my bucket list. Austin Price: Some people may argue with this, but I think sports in general are neat when Chicago, New York, LA have those teams that are really good. When the Knicks are good, when the Yankees are good, the Giants or Jets. It's a special sports town. How much did you have that ingrained into you? Were you a big fan of all sports when you were growing up? You said you loved football. Zakai Zeigler: Yeah, I was really big on football and basketball. Austin Price: Giants or Jets? Zakai Zeigler: See, I'm a Pittsburgh Steelers fan. Yeah, a lot of people don't know that. I was a big time Troy Polamalu fan. I used to wear my hair out like him. I thought I was the next Troy Polamalu, but I'm a Steelers fan, but it was ingrained into me. When I was younger, I remember my mom, my dad taking me to ... Well, I don't really remember, but I remember them telling the story how they took me to Madison Square Garden and we went to go watch Stephon Marbury play. And they was telling me they got me this little basketball from the toy shop or whatever, the shop in MSG. And I just kept saying, "Mom, I want to put this ball in that basket. I want to shoot in that basket." They kept telling me I was trying to run down and go shoot in the hoop, but that's a story that I'll always remember. Austin Price: How much do you follow basketball history? I mean, do you know where Stephon Marbury played college ball at? Do you follow it like that or do you ... Zakai Zeigler: Not really. I follow it a little bit based on players and which I like most, but not too much. Not too much. Austin Price: Jordan or LeBron? Who's the goat? Zakai Zeigler: I say LeBron because I saw what LeBron did. I did not see what Michael Jordan did. Austin Price: How much did you watch The Last Dance, though? Zakai Zeigler: I watched it, but still. Austin Price: You aren't living it. Zakai Zeigler: Yeah, I'm not living it. I understand, but I saw what LeBron did. When he came back and we won finals, that was some of the craziest things I ever saw. Austin Price: Do you and your teammates ever get into that debate or are you all just like ... Zakai Zeigler: Yes. Austin Price: How many teammates on this team would take Jordan? I mean, most of them are in the LeBron era, so it's natural for someone at your age to go with LeBron. Whereas my age, it's natural to go Jordan. Zakai Zeigler: Yeah. I would say two, but I wouldn't say that they would pick Jordan or LeBron. I think they would just want the argument. They would get their point across. They would just try to win the argument and that's definitely Olivier and Jeremiah. They are going to try to argue their way and win the conversation. Austin Price: Are they the greatest debaters on the team? Zakai Zeigler: Yes. Those two having a conversation is one of the funniest things I've seen. Austin Price: So you're telling me that they should be the tandem of the law firm of Kumwa and Maychek? Zakai Zeigler: Definitely, because they're going to make sure that you know what their point is and they're going to get their point across and they're going to make sure you believe what they believe. They're crazy. Austin Price: All right, so when you're growing up and you're hitting those gems in Long Island, at what point when you started to really love basketball, when you got past eighth grade, did you really start to perfect who you are as a player? Little jitterbug, defensive just past, just all up in your grill. And then quicker in the hiccup and getting off the bounce. Zakai Zeigler: I would say about a few months before I came to UT because I always was always like, "Hey, I got to score the ball, I got to do this, that." And I had a AAU coach, I lived in Queens and this AAU coach, Coach Shin, he had called me from New York Lightning and he was asked me to play and stuff. And he had used to live in the projects that I used to live right next to, so he had felt like we had a connection in a way type already. And he was a small guard and so he had told me, "Yeah, if you want to get to it, you want to get to it. This isn't going to work, though. My way won't work." And I just took it on the chin and said, "All right, I'll listen to you." And once I finally listened to him, Peach Jam is when I actually performed and did what he had told me to do. And now I'm sitting here today. Austin Price: You're this hard nosed, tough kid from New York. Rick Barnes is really tough to play for and he demands so much out of his point guards. I mean, we had Josiah here in episode one. He talked about when he first got here he hated Rick Barnes, but now it's like he has this great appreciation for what he's brought out of him. Is that similar for you and was it different or you're just like I can roll with anything? Zakai Zeigler: It was more like I can roll with it because last year, honestly, I don't think the coaches, I feel like the coaches knew what I could bring, but I don't think any of us expected it to be like that, including me. But this year, once my role got bigger and he started to get on me more at after the Colorado game everybody was saying Coach Barnes was being too much ... Austin Price: He moved you to the bench and then had you coming off and you played just as much. Zakai Zeigler: Yeah, and I felt like it was just tough love and it was just out of he knows what I should do it and what I can do. So I don't see it as him being mean or just rough only on me or picking on me. I just feel it as constructive criticism. Austin Price: How would you describe him? Josiah called him a psychopath, which is funny because how he coaches a certain way, but as soon as practice ends goes back to putting your arm around him and back to talking about just life and having a good time. Zakai Zeigler: I would 1,000% agree with what Josiah said. I've seen him one day yell at somebody and then turn around and just start laughing and joking around and turn back around and start screaming at us, walk up the court and turn and start laughing. So he's two different people on and off the court. Off the court he's one of the most down to earth guys I know. He really cares about us more than humans and people rather than just basketball players. On the court he just wants us to be the best we can be. Austin Price: Basketball stuff's pretty tight knit. I mean, he's had a little bit of turnover here recently with Dez getting a job and different people moving on, but you've got Mary Carter over there. She's a key piece to the puzzle. Tom Satkoviak, key piece to the puzzle. Football's so big. Basketball, way fewer players, sports staff, all that. How would you describe the group? I don't mean just players, the whole deal. Zakai Zeigler: It's like the quote we always use, INAM, it's not about me. Everybody is always putting their foot forward for somebody else. They're not just doing something rather to benefit theirself. Pretty much we always have each other's back. If it puts me in a bad position, but puts everybody else in a good position, I think everybody will do what they have to do. That's how I describe our whole program, INAM. Austin Price: Most people know Zakai's story, last year, middle of the year, your house got burned down in New York. And luckily no one was hurt, but you lost everything in a blink. You had to go out and play almost immediately. When you found out and then had to have that quick turnaround, what's going through your mind? Zakai Zeigler: Honestly, I was trying to keep it off my mind as much as possible, but it was just so tough because I remember we went to Georgia, we had shoot around. I wasn't feeling it that much and then we got to the game, we started warming up and I was fine. And then I remember right before the game I turned and I saw my mom and all my energy just shut down. And once I got in the game it was ugly. I didn't play well, but thankfully that was the one time I got some sympathy from Coach Barnes and he let me off the hook that one time. And I told him it won't happen again, but it was a pretty tough turnaround. But then after that Georgia game we played Arkansas and it was all back to normal. Austin Price: 24 hours, Tennessee fans raised $365,000, enough for your mom and everybody to relocate down here. What'd that mean? In the moment, I know you're so appreciative, but a year later looking back on it, what's that say? Zakai Zeigler: I see Vol Nation as really a true family. It was much more than basketball at that point. Austin Price: A family you weren't even a part of just a few months earlier. Zakai Zeigler: Exactly, that's how I looked at it. I'm really big on family. My mom, we're super close. We're like best friends. We argue all the time, we talk all the time. We're just like best friends. So just to see people of Vol Nation have our back like that in a blink of an eye, just to just say they can help us out and just for it to come to that, it was like words can't explain how thankful and how much I really appreciate it. Austin Price: You see what the football team did this year at 10-2, those kids getting Tennessee football back. You were a part of a team last year that won the SEC tournament for the first time in over 40 years. Can you compute what that means to people and then what it just meant to the program? Zakai Zeigler: It was a crazy feeling because we didn't stop playing that game until that final buzzer went off. It was maybe one second left. We were up 15 and we all looked up and then everybody started celebrating. And it was just a crazy feeling. It's a feeling that I expect to have again this year, too. Austin Price: Nickname, is it just Z or is it ZZ? Zakai Zeigler: Z, ZZ, Ziggy. A lot of people call me Kai, but yeah. Austin Price: What's your favorite? Zakai Zeigler: I honestly just say Kai. If somebody asked me, I would say my name is Kai. Austin Price: What's your middle name? Zakai Zeigler: It starts with a Z. Austin Price: So it's three Zs? Zakai Zeigler: Yeah, triple Z. You can take a guess what it is? Austin Price: Zeke. Zakai Zeigler: Zakai Zambeke Zeigler. Austin Price: I was never going to guess that. Zakai Zeigler: Yeah, I wanted to see what you guessed. Austin Price: What if I had, though? You'd have been like ... Zakai Zeigler: Yeah, I would just say you looked it up. That's what I would've said. Austin Price: I'm thorough, I'm not that thorough. So you got Triple J, you got Triple Z. Hey, maybe that's a new thing. All right, we're going to take questions from Instagram and Twitter. How's your family settling into the new house down here? Zakai Zeigler: They're settling great. They love it. My nephew, he flies down the stairs all day long. My mother, she loves that she has a kitchen to herself. She can cook, she can move around, but it just feels good that we have a place that we could actually call home. Austin Price: Favorite moment as a ball basketball player so far is what? Zakai Zeigler: Definitely the SEC-ship by far because, like you said earlier, we haven't won that in over 40 years. And a lot of people have attempted to do it and they couldn't, but just for us to have something that's went down in history and nobody can take it away from us, it's a really good feeling. Austin Price: This one is not from social media, but it ties in with one of the questions about wearing number five. You got permission from Lofton to wear five. Have you really bonded with him? Have you had to get to spend some time with him and just pick his brain? Zakai Zeigler: I remember the first day I actually saw him and he was in the gym shooting. We had end of practice and he started shooting. I had no idea who he was. Everybody kept saying, "Yo, he could shoot the ball. He could shoot the ball." And I was like, "Yeah, yeah." I didn't have no idea who he was or his background. I was like, "Yeah, yeah." And then the next day we had practice again and it's this drill that Olivier does and you have to make 14 shots pretty much one at seven spots there and back. And you can't miss three. If you miss three, you got to start over. And Olivier was doing it, he was struggling a little bit and then Chris Lofton went up there and he did it and he missed two shots. No, he missed one shot and I was like, "That's not an easy drill." I was like, "Maybe I could do it." I was like, "Maybe it's not that hard." And I think I actually did do it in my first try and then he did it again. And then I tried to get it a second time and I couldn't do it. I thought he was pretty young and then I found out how old he was. I was like "Man, so who is he?" And I started hearing the history behind it. Austin Price: You watch any highlights online? Zakai Zeigler: Yeah, and I saw him play on-- Austin Price: The shot of Durant. Zakai Zeigler: I was just about to say that. I remember Coach Barnes had brought it up, too, exactly where he was at and I saw the clip. I was like, "Wow, that's crazy." Austin Price: He did one at Vanderbilt on the road, too. And it was even further than that. I mean, just pulled one. I mean, he was barely across mid court before Curry was doing that. And he pulled it right across mid court and just buries it. He had won in the NCAA tournament to advance them to a game winner where he basically had to take it over the corner of the backboard basically as time expired. Zakai Zeigler: Yeah, that's some shooter's touch. Shooter's touch is real. Austin Price: Take it back to New York. How much do you know about Ernie and Bernie? Zakai Zeigler: I didn't know much about Ernie, but I knew a lot about Bernie. Not a lot, but I knew that he was pretty much one of, if not the, greatest player in New York or from New York. I did not know he came to Tennessee before my visit and I saw the big banner that say he's in the Hall of Fame. I was like, "Man, what?" He wasn't here, but he definitely is one of those GOATs in New York. Austin Price: All right, back to social media questions. If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be? Zakai Zeigler: Fried chicken, for sure. I could eat fried chicken every day of the week. Austin Price: From where? What's your go-to? What's your go-to in New York for that? Zakai Zeigler: I would just say my mom's cooking. Austin Price: Okay, I'm with you. Zakai Zeigler: I would just say my mom making it, but a store in New York I like deli food a lot. Deli food or Spanish food, like chicken and rice or beans. Austin Price: No New York style pizza? Zakai Zeigler: I love New York style pizza, too, but I ate pizza so much Austin Price: Anything close to that here? Zakai Zeigler: No. Austin Price: Is there anything there locally that would be similar to something you ate growing up that you were really like that feels like back home. Zakai Zeigler: There's a place called Dulcie's. It's Jamaican food. That's what I would say is the closest thing because I used to eat a lot of Jamaican food, too, growing up. Austin Price: All right, this one. I don't normally read the names, but this one is from one of your teammates. Let's see if you can guess who it is. Why are you such a messy roommate? Zakai Zeigler: No. It's either DJ or Toby said that. Austin Price: It's not, actually. It's Josiah. Zakai Zeigler: Josiah's not my roommate and Josiah cannot talk. I wish he was here. I could ask him why his locker so messy. Austin Price: Most competitive person on this team not named Zakai Zeigler? Zakai Zeigler: That's a tough one because Olivier, super competitive. Jeremiah, super competitive. Josiah, Santi. I would say honestly everybody, but if I had to pick one I would definitely say Olivier. Austin Price: All right, so you got all these guys that they're internationals, whether it's from Finland or wherever. Do any of them ever talk in the game in the foreign language so the officials don't know what they're saying when they're upset? Zakai Zeigler: I heard Santi do it last year maybe two times, but he doesn't do it that much. Uros doesn't care. He'll say anything. He'll just say it in English. He doesn't care. Austin Price: He does not care. I agree. Zakai Zeigler: But Santi, I've heard him say something in Spanish a few times. That's the only person I can think of. Austin Price: Does that get to you? Zakai Zeigler: No, I think it's hilarious when they say stuff. Especially Uros, when he talks in his language, he always messes with me. I just start laughing. I think it's hilarious when he does that. He'll be on the phone talking with somebody from back home and I'll hear it and just start dying laughing. He's like, "You serious? This is my language," but I don't know why it's just so funny to me. Austin Price: Favorite sport to go to not named basketball. Is it football or do you like baseball? You went to a bunch of baseball games last year. Zakai Zeigler: I definitely did. I never went to a baseball game before I got here. Austin Price: So you never went to a Yankees game growing up? Zakai Zeigler: Never. I only had went to a Knicks game when I was younger. I went to a few Nets games and I went to a few Giants and Jets games, but I never been to a baseball game. I remember Josiah was trying to get me, he was pulling me out of the room when we were roommates and he was like, "Yeah, let's go to this baseball game." And I wasn't really feeling it because I never really watched baseball like that. I didn't understand it. I kept saying, "I'm not trying to go to a three hour game for the score to be one to two." I don't want to do that. Austin Price: So is soccer really where you shut down then? Zakai Zeigler: Yeah, soccer. Austin Price: You're so quick, though. I think you could be good at that. Zakai Zeigler: Maybe. That takes a lot of footwork skill. I don't know if I have that yet, but I went to a soccer game, too, and I stayed until halftime and I was like, "Man, I have to leave." I can't do it. It was 0-0. I didn't like it, but baseball definitely. I went to a few of those games and once I started to learn how to actually play it, not play it, but the rules of it, it was pretty fun. And I knew some baseball players, too. I was in class with them at that time, so it was pretty cool. Austin Price: How much do you enjoy that portion of it from just being a classmate? Zakai Zeigler: It's pretty fun. It is fun being a regular student and just going to other games and hanging out with regular classmates, non-athlete classmates. It is pretty cool. Austin Price: Did you end up down on the field after the Alabama game? Zakai Zeigler: Okay, so I told Josiah in the beginning of the game once we got up 14-0, or we was up 21-0. And I said, "Yo, if we're losing at any point, I'm leaving because I don't feel good." I was tired, there was a lot of people. I was hungry. Austin Price: You left. Zakai Zeigler: And I said, "Yo, if we go down at one point, I'm leaving. I'm letting you know now." He's like, "Okay." Well, I didn't think we were going to go down at any point, but that's what I was saying. And then we went down and I was like, "Yeah, I'm leaving." I got to my room, I was laying down for a second and then I heard everybody. I was with Uros. I left and went to Uros in Julian's room. We were hanging out and then all we hear is the people just start banging on doors. Everybody was running around, people were running out of our building and I was like, "What's going on?" And we were all confused. Austin Price: You're like, "Fire drill." Zakai Zeigler: Yeah, it was like, "What?" And then everybody was like, "Yeah, we won." Man, I wish I was on that field for that moment, though. That's probably the biggest moment I was actually mad that I missed. Austin Price: So you had a fear of missing out? Zakai Zeigler: Yeah, that was a tough one to miss. It's all good, though. It's fun. Hopefully I experience it again, though. Austin Price: They've stormed a basketball court a time or two around here. Zakai Zeigler: Hopefully. Austin Price: You never know, get a big one. Zakai Zeigler: Yeah, but I don't think so. I don't think that'll happen because we're supposed to win every game. So I wouldn't see it as any big wins because we're supposed to be number one. And we beat the number two team, supposed to beat them. Austin Price: How much do you love the Kentucky atmosphere? Zakai Zeigler: I love it. Now, that's a game that's a lot of trash talking in it. That definitely is. SEC players deals with a lot of trash talking, but that Kentucky Tennessee game is definitely one that's always on everybody's calendar, everybody. And I can't wait for that one this year. And we got them home first this year. Austin Price: Home games or road games? Because some people going in the lines on the road. Zakai Zeigler: I like road games. I love going to road games. I honestly feel like it is not easier to play on road games, but I feel more comfortable in road ... Not more comfortable, but I don't know the word, but I feel no pressure going into away games. Austin Price: Take away Thompson Bowling and Pratt, favorite spot on campus? Zakai Zeigler: Favorite spot on campus, Nealen or Lindsey Nelson. One of those two. Austin Price: What about from an academic standpoint? Do you ever walk by the torch bearer and think what's this story here? Zakai Zeigler: I did and I never asked the story, though. I always wondered it. What was the whole thing behind the torch bearer. I don't know what it's called, but it's the walkway where it's something that nobody's supposed to step on or it's bad luck. Austin Price: Yeah, it's the seal? Zakai Zeigler: Yeah, and I saw a couple people laying down on it one time and that was the funniest thing ever because I didn't understand why everybody was looking at this guy laying. I was looking at him, like why is he laying down in the middle of it? And everybody was just looking at him. What he doing? And then I heard the story behind it. It's bad luck if you do that, but before that. Austin Price: So now do you go around? Zakai Zeigler: I definitely do. I stepped on it a few times, before I knew that, too, but I think it brought us good luck because we won the SEC chip, but I'm not going to take that risk of doing it again, though. Not happening. Austin Price: Favorite app on your phone is what? Zakai Zeigler: Probably Apple Music. I love listening to music. Austin Price: What do you listen to? Zakai Zeigler: Lil Baby. I listen to a lot of New York rappers, too. Austin Price: Buddy, I have done many, many, many recruiting commitment videos and every kid wants Lil Baby. And it's never the same song twice. He's the Dave Matthews of that genre because he's got so many songs. I've never used the same one. I'm like when's a kid going to ask me to download this song? And then the worst is when they go, "I want this song." And then you download it and then you're like, "No, I want to do this song. No, I want to do this song." I'm like, "Okay, now I downloaded three songs." Zakai Zeigler: Yeah, I was like that on my commitment. When they asked me which song I wanted to do it and I was just like, "Huh." It was three different Lil Baby songs and I said, "All right, I want this one." But it was all Lil Baby, for sure. Austin Price: What's something most people don't know about you? Zakai Zeigler: A lot of people don't know I'm actually very shy. A lot of people don't know that because they expect me to be ... Not the last person, but I feel like they expect me to be very outgoing. But when I go to class and I just sit back and know I'm super quiet in class. A lot of people expect that from me. Now, when I get to know you I'll probably be the loudest person, but before you get to know me I'll be a little bit shy. Austin Price: So can I expect you to yell at me from now on when you see me? Not yell at me, but ... Zakai Zeigler: Definitely. Austin Price: You're going to be chatting my ear off? Zakai Zeigler: Yeah, a little bit. Austin Price: All right, here's your question. So my daughter plays. She plays in the Hardin Valley Youth Basketball League and she's on the short side. And so Saturday I was explaining to her, I'm like, "Hey, once you get the rebound, you can't go down. Once you take it down, you're done because the other girls go get in there." And so I started showing her highlights of you. I had her watching the game the other night. What advice would you give her? Because her thing was I'm shorter than everybody and I said but you can't let that be your handicap. You have to find ways to overcome. You do that. Zakai Zeigler: I would just say playing the hardest because, believe it or not, that is intimidating to a lot of people. Once they see you step on the court and they see you that you're trying their hardest and they might say, "All right, I need to raise my level of play," just because they see how much you're doing and how much you actually care, but I would just say giving it your all no matter what on that court. Austin Price: What's the one thing individually you want to accomplish before you're done? We know what you want to accomplish team wise, championships when we're hanging banners, but individually. Zakai Zeigler: Before I leave I want to get a defensive player of the year. That is one goal of mine that I always looked at and I always felt like it was more cool than being MVP. Austin Price: One way to keep Barnes off of you, too. Zakai Zeigler: Yeah, definitely. But I always felt like that was a cooler look than being a most outstanding player or most valuable player. Definitely be defensive player. Austin Price: Well, Zakai, we appreciate the time. It was a great dive and deep dive in getting to know you. Troy Polamalu. You're a big football guy. He's never been to be Yankees game. We're learning baseball. Zakai Zeigler: I got to go to one. Austin Price: And he missed the Alabama celebration. Zakai Zeigler: I was on the outside. I wasn't inside Nealen. I was on the street, though, so I got a little bit of it. Austin Price: You got a little bit of it. What a story and he's just a sophomore. And we're only 10 games into his sophomore season. Many, many more stories to be written over the next couple of years. We appreciate you joining us on Vol Club Confidential. Zakai Zeigler: Appreciate you.