In Reply to: Who does Zakai Zeigler guard at 5'9 posted by mh on March 24, 2025 at 11:32:58
we are talking about. Ziegler, who is very explosive and lightning quick, was first team All SEC and SEC defensive player in the year in the top conference in the country this year. As an example, in 35 games, he has 69 steals to only 18 for Thomas in his 26 games played.
Thomas on the other hand, did not receive any defensive awards and only made the 3rd team all conference in the lower level Mountain West Conference. Thomas doesn't have that explosiveness, extreme quickness or physicality that Ziegler does even if he is a little taller. So I wouldn't expect him to suddenly become a defensive specialist at UCLA. He may be OK but so far, hasn't shown anything exceptional about his D at UNLV.
My choice would be NM's Dent over Thomas if it was between the two--but the shorter, very exceptional Ziegler would beat both of them out if that was a possibility.
Dent is a little bigger than Thomas at 6'2, 185 lbs and Leading scorer at UNM at 20 per game. Also Player of the year in the Mountain West Conference, same conference Thomas is in. He is a better shooter than Thomas from beyond the arc at near 41% and a better FT shooter at 78%. A solid PG who is also a good scorer. As a defender, Dent had 48 steals in 35 games and 30 blocks, 2nd on the team. The one area of concern I have is that he averages 3 turnovers a game but makes up with it with a 2:1 AT ratio (6'4 assists per game).
I'm sure there are many other good PGs out there that we will be discussing before this is all over but this was an interesting threesome to discuss.
It's certainly fortunate for the Bruins that neither one of us will be making the portal decisions for them :-)))