The dream is over. When it was announced that Tennessee basketball star Zakai Zeigler was fighting for a fifth and final season of eligibility, there was hope that he'd get some good news in his legal push to get things done.
Unfortunately, breaking news came in on Thursday with a court in Tennessee denying the preliminary injunction for Zeigler to get the fifth year he was eyeing. Now, ZZ will be packing his bags and leaving Knoxville for good. No one knows what the future has in store for Zeigler, but what we do know is that his love for the Vols won't be going anywhere.
On top of that, his hatred for UT's rival isn't going anywhere either. Not long after his bid for a fifth year was denied, Zeigler took to Instagram to post one final goodbye message for Vols Nation. Funny enough, it was a photo of him giving the Kentucky logo the middle finger. Yup, this is how you go out in style.
Tennessee fans are loving Zakai Zeigler throwing shade at Kentucky in a goodbye post
On one hand, yes, it sucks that Zeigler isn't going to be making more plays for Rick Barnes in the future. While that's a bummer, the fact that he's bashing the Wildcats like this is absolute gold - as you might have been able to guess, Kentucky fans are pretty ticked off.
During the regular season, the Wildcats and Vols faced off twice, with Kentucky coming out on top in both Knoxville and Lexington. Then they faced off in the NCAA Tournament and Tennessee put on an absolute show, with Zeigler scoring 18 points in the Sweet Sixteen win.
It was some sweet revenge for the Vols and Zeigler was all smiles after that W. Come next year, Barnes will have a new-look roster, which will of course include 5-star signee Nate Ament and touted transfer Ja'Kobi Gillespie. Zeigler won't be part of the plans, but he'll no question be rooting for the Vols to take down UK whenever these two sides face off.