Tennessee Said Goodbye To Some LEGENDS Over The Weekend...

Lucas Panzica discusses some emotional losses for the Tennessee Volunteers basketball program going forward.

Transcript

00:00The men's college basketball regular season came to an end on Saturday and

00:04Vols fans said goodbye to four program legends at Food City Center in Thompson

00:10Bowling Arena. Hey, Lucas Panzeca here from 104.5 The Zone and A to Z Sports.

00:18That's right, four absolute legends doing their thing for the final time at home

00:23in Tennessee Orange. Two on the court, two off the court, and we start on the court

00:29with what I believe is one of the best duos in Tennessee men's basketball

00:34history, Zekai Ziegler and Jemai Mayshak playing their final game at home in that

00:3975-65 win over South Carolina. When you talk about culture setters for Rick

00:45Barnes' program, arguably there are none better than Ziegler and Mayshak. When you

00:51look at what those two players have achieved over the course of their

00:54careers, two Sweet Sixteen appearances, one Elite Eight, one SEC regular season

00:59title, one SEC tournament title, a shocking 60-5 record at home, and they

01:05were ranked part of Tennessee teams that were ranked for the entirety of their

01:10Tennessee careers. We obviously know all about Zekai Ziegler's incredible story, a

01:15diamond in the rough out of nowhere from New York, and finding a pivotal role in

01:20changing and sustaining this program under Rick Barnes. When you talk about the

01:25iconic duos in Tennessee men's hoops history, I think Zekai Ziegler and Jemai

01:30Mayshak belong right up there with Ernie and Bernie, with Admiral Schofield and

01:34Grant Williams, and so on. That is how much both of those players have meant to

01:38this program on and off the court. Not to mention, Zekai Ziegler wins SEC

01:43Defensive Player of the Year for the second year in a row, beating out his

01:47teammate Jemai Mayshak, who deservedly gets named to the SEC All-Defense team

01:52at the end of the regular season. Off the court, two other legends that were

01:57honored on Saturday are the broadcasters Bob Kessling and Burt Bertelkamp, who

02:01called their final home game for Tennessee basketball. Bob Kessling

02:05obviously announced his retirement months ago. He will be replaced by the

02:10legendary Mike Keith, but Burt Bertelkamp, Kessling's partner of 26 years on the

02:15Vol Network's radio broadcast for basketball, also will be hanging it up.

02:20It's gonna take some getting used to, not hearing Burt Bertelkamp yelling money

02:24when Tennessee hits a big three, and Tennessee fans all over the world are

02:28shouting that word when the Vols hit a three. The good news is, the season is not

02:33over. Tennessee, the four seed in the SEC tournament coming to Bridgestone Arena,

02:37it should be a thrilling tournament with how good the SEC has been top to bottom

02:42throughout the course of the regular season. So, the Vols will get matched up

02:46with either Texas A&M, Texas, or Vanderbilt in the quarterfinals of the

02:51SEC tournament, and then they'll look to March in the NCAA tournament and make

02:55sure that those four legends, Bob Kessling, Burt Bertelkamp, Zakai Ziegler,

03:00and Jemai Mayshak finish out strong.