Tennessee's Zeigler sues NCAA for 5th year of eligibility

Tennessee guard Zakai Zeigler filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the NCAA, arguing he should be permitted to play a fifth season, according to Mike Wilson of the Knoxville News Sentinel.

The suit claims that Zeigler, who's played 138 games over four seasons with the Volunteers, should be eligible to play in the 2025-26 campaign because of an NCAA rule that permits players who redshirted a season to return for a fifth year. Zeigler's lawyers argue that, because student athletes are now eligible for compensation under NIL legislation, it's "unlawful" for the NCAA to restrict that fifth-year exception to players who sat out a previous campaign.

With 2025-26 roster decisions already taking place, Zeigler is seeking a preliminary injunction that would immediately make the third-team All-American eligible to suit up next season while his case is reviewed.

"(The fifth season is) the most lucrative year of the eligibility window for the vast majority of athletes," Zeigler's suit claims, according to Wilson. A study by Spyre Sports Group, a sports marketing agency, estimated Zeigler could earn up to $4 million in NIL compensation in 2025-26.

Zeigler averaged 13.6 points and a team-high 7.4 assists as a senior, helping Tennessee get to the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight for a second consecutive year. The 5-foot-9 guard led the SEC in assists per game every season after his freshman year, and his 747 career assists rank third in conference history behind former Ole Miss guard Sean Tuohy and Arkansas alumnus Kareem Reid.

The NCAA provided all players impacted by the pandemic's disruption of the 2019-20 season with a blanket waiver for a fifth year. However, Zeigler didn't begin college play until 2021-22.