Two University of Tennessee men’s basketball players, Chaz Lanier and Zakai Zeigler, have been named to the John R. Wooden Award Top 15 National Ballot.
The Volunteers are the only team with two players selected by the Los Angeles Athletic Club. They join three other SEC standouts—Auburn’s Johni Broome, Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr., and Alabama’s Mark Sears—giving the conference a third of the spots on the ballot.
Chosen by a panel of national college basketball experts, the list features 15 student-athletes vying for a spot on the Wooden Award All-American Team and the prestigious Wooden Award Player of the Year.
Earlier in the season, Lanier earned spots on both the Midseason Top 25 Watch List and the Late Midseason Top 20 Watch List. Zeigler, on the other hand, was initially included but did not make the cut for the top 20 before being reintroduced for the top 15. He is one of three players—alongside Houston’s L.J. Cryer and Wisconsin’s John Tonje—to appear on the national ballot despite not being featured in the top 20.
Lanier, a finalist for the Jerry West Award, earned accolades as both the SEC Newcomer of the Year and a Second Team All-SEC selection. In his fifth season, the guard is averaging 17.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.0 assist per game, while hitting 40.5 percent of his three-point attempts and starting in all 31 games.
At 6-foot-5 and 207 pounds, Lanier, who spent his first four years at North Florida, has already received significant accolades for the 2024-25 season. He earned a spot on the Field of 68 Second Team All-America and was recognized on College Hoops Today’s Third Team All-America. Additionally, he has been named to the Naismith Trophy Midseason Team and is on the USBWA Oscar Robertson Trophy Midseason Watch List.
Lanier ranks among Division I’s top 10 in both total 3-pointers made and average 3-pointers per game (3.39), achievements that also place him in the top four on Tennessee’s single-season leaderboard. Additionally, he is third in the SEC in 3-point percentage and total made field goals (197), and he ranks fifth in points per game. The Nashville, Tenn., native has scored in double digits in 29 of 31 games, surpassing 20 points in 12 of those contests.
A finalist for the Bob Cousy Award, Zeigler earned SEC Defensive Player of the Year and First Team All-SEC honors for the second consecutive season. The senior guard is averaging 13.1 points, 7.5 assists, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.9 steals per game, starting in all 30 contests this season.
Like Lanier, Zeigler is a member of the Naismith Trophy Midseason Team and the USBWA Oscar Robertson Trophy Midseason Watch List. Additionally, he earned a spot on the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Watch List for the third straight season. The 5-foot-9, 172-pound guard has recorded at least six assists in all but five of his games in the 2024-25 season, surpassing eight assists in half of them.
Hailing from Long Island, N.Y., Zeigler ranks fifth nationally in assists per game. His 224 total assists are just three short of Tennessee’s single-season record and seven away from breaking into the top 10 on the SEC’s all-time single-season list.
The John R. Wooden Award is given each year to the most outstanding player in collegiate basketball. Established in 1976 by John Wooden and the Wooden Award National Steering Committee, it evaluates candidates based on their abilities in passing, shooting, dribbling, defending, and rebounding, as well as their overall contributions to their teams.
All players on the ballot have been certified by their universities as meeting or exceeding the qualifications set by Coach Wooden when the award was created. These qualifications include:
– Candidates must be full-time students at an accredited NCAA institution.
– They must maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 2.00 and make steady progress toward graduation.
– Their contributions must play a significant role in their team’s success.
– Excellence in both offensive and defensive play is required.
– Performance is assessed based on the entire season.
– Candidates must exhibit strong character both on and off the court.
Voting is scheduled from March 10 to March 24, during which voters will evaluate a player’s performance throughout the season, including the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament. The Wooden Award All-American Team will be revealed during the Elite Eight week of the tournament, and the finalists for the Wooden Award will be announced on ESPN on April 1.
Lanier, Zeigler, and the No. 8/6 Tennessee squad (25-6 overall, 12-6 in SEC play) return to the court on Friday at 3:30 p.m. ET for the SEC Tournament quarterfinals against an opponent yet to be determined, live on ESPN from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.
WOODEN AWARD TOP 15 NATIONAL BALLOT
Johni Broome, Auburn
Walter Clayton Jr., Florida
L.J. Cryer, Houston
Hunter Dickinson, Kansas
Eric Dixon, Villanova
Cooper Flagg, Duke
P.J. Haggerty, Memphis
Dylan Harper, Rutgers
Kam Jones, Marquette
Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton
Chaz Lanier, Tennessee
Mark Sears, Alabama
Braden Smith, Purdue
John Tonje, Wisconsin
Zakai Zeigler, Tennessee
