Mashack, Zeigler Neglected As Lanier Wins Nation’s Top SG Award

Image: UTSports.com

By Cody McClure

Vol Basketball’s top trio of senior guards probably felt different emotions this weekend when it came to postseason awards.

Jahmai Mashack and Zakai Zeigler each lost out on Naismith Defensive Player of the Year as Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner took it home.

Kalkbrenner was in attendance in San Antonio to pick up the award after a season in which he led the Big East in blocked shots per game and rebounds per game.

The 7-footer from Creighton is a nice player, but as a team, the Blue Jays were nothing special defensively.

Meanwhile Tennessee passed both the eye test and the numbers test on defense and possessed two absolutely elite perimeter defenders.

Did both Mashack and Zeigler being finalists keep one of them from winning it?

It seems that would increase the odds of one of our guys winning it, but perhaps there was a split over which guy it should be.

Tennessee was the first school ever to have two Naismith DPOY finalists on the same team.

Though Mashack and Zeigler came up short this weekend, it wasn’t all bad news for UT.

Lanier won the Jerry West Award as the nation’s top shooting guard after averaging 18 points per game this past season.

"Representing the University of Tennessee this year has been special and this accolade is not just about me, but about all of us who contributed to such an awesome season,” Lanier said.