Tennessee basketball head coach Rick Barnes gave an emotional statement on his seniors after his team’s 75-65 win over South Carolina. The Volunteers bounced back on Senior Day from a tough loss on the road to Ole Miss to pick up their twelfth SEC win of the season. The No. 4-ranked team in the country will now head into the conference tournament with a chance to earn its first No. 1 seed in program history.
Tennessee celebrated seven seniors on Saturday, including guards Jahmai Mashack and Zakai Zeigler, who have been in Knoxville their entire careers. Barnes praised all of his outgoing players and went into detail on how much Mashack and Zeigler have grown as players and people over the years.
“Watching how far they have both come, it’s emotional because I know how hard I’ve been on both of them from a coach’s standpoint. But I think they understand it’s out of my love and respect for them. And knowing that what they’re going after is a hard thing to get to.
But our goal is to make sure that when it’s all said and done here, they know how much we care about them, love them. And hope that they know that we didn’t leave anything in our tank, that we want to pour all out to them. Those two guys serving for the four years have lived up to our motto, It’s Not About Me, as well as any two players that have ever come through the program.”
The Volunteers’ seniors have been constants in this program’s rise to being one of the best in the country
Tennessee basketball has gone from being a good-to-great program over the past few years and now has a chance to make its first Final Four in school history. From a personnel standpoint, this is probably Rick Barnes’ most balanced team in Knoxville, with experienced senior guards who have already been a part of deep runs in March. That includes Jahmai Mashack and Zakai Zeigler, who were both key players on Tennessee’s Elight Eight appearance last year and have gotten even more vital this season.
The Volunteers still have that imposing physical identity that Rick Barnes’ teams have always had. However, this group additionally has the shot creators that a team needs to make it well past the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. But, looking ahead aside, Zeigler and Maschack have elevated this program to new heights during their time in Knoxville. All the outstanding results that happen with this program this year and in the near future will be on account of the foundation players like these two and the rest of the roster have built over these years.
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