University of Tennessee basketball player Zakai Zeigler recently met Tennessee dairy farmers to celebrate milk following the spring Dunks On You contest. During the event, The Dairy Alliance sat down with Zakai to learn how he is in the postseason.
Zeigler ended his sophomore season with a torn ACL this March, but it has not slowed him down. When asked if ready for next season, Zeigler was quick to answer: “For sure!”
“I feel really good. The past few weeks have been going really well in my recovery. It feels good to finally be walking again.”
This March Madness, Zakai went against The University of Memphis player Kendric Davis in an off-the-court, animated dunk challenge. Dunks On You sent fans to Twitter to tweet who they wanted to see dunked in a tall glass of milk. The final score was 7 dunks for Zakai and 4 dunks for Kendric.
“I thought [the challenge] was really cool, but I kind of felt some type of way,” Zakai joked while reflecting on the campaign. “All my friends were dunking me! It played out to be pretty cool.”
Fans were encouraged to follow the competition at DunksOnYou.com, which featured animated versions of Zeigler and Davis sitting over a glass slowly filled with milk as the tweets came in. The player with the most dunks in their glass of milk won the competition. Fans tweeted their clear support of Zeigler all month long.
The contest promoted milk’s benefits, like its protein content. Whether you’re competing on the court, working out, or tackling your to-do list, milk provides the protein you need for peak performance. Every 8 oz glass of milk provides 8 grams of complete, high-quality protein to help you stay strong, energized, and focused.
As for what is next for the young athlete, some of the dairy farmers Zakai met invited him to a day on the farm and a chance to milk a cow when they discovered he had never visited a farm before.
“We’ll see how that plays out. I am looking forward to milking a cow soon!”
Read more from our blog for more information on milk’s role in performance.