KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee men's basketball guard Zakai Zeigler is going through some tough times right now.
A couple of days ago, he found out his hometown house in New York burned to the ground in a fire. His mom came to Knoxville after that and was at Tennessee's game against Georgia on Tuesday night, which Zeigler played in.
Barnes said after the game that Zeigler has had a lot of restless nights, saying that he stayed up until around 5 a.m. or 6 a.m. one night worrying.
The university started a GoFundMe on Wednesday so that fans can help. They set a $50,000 goal and donations have already come in. Contributions are up to almost $350,000 as of Thursday at 12:04 p.m.
The team is rallying behind Zeigler through this tough time too.
"If he wants to talk about it we can talk about it. I know it is on his mind a lot so I try to keep him distracted, try to go on with life as normal," said Tennessee guard Josiah-Jordan James. "It's really hard for him, it's really hard for all of us because we feel for him and it is really tragic for what happened to him and his family. We're just putting an arm around him, letting him know we are here for him and even though it doesn't make sense, everything happens for a reason."
Zeigler has turned into a fan favorite among Vol nation for his toughness and always bringing a spark off the bench. He's a Sixth Man of the Year candidate in the SEC.
