TAMPA, Fla. — There’s a new king of the court at King High School. Senior John Ziegler recently became the school’s all-time points leader — a record that was held for 28 years.
To get to the top, Ziegler had to literally rise from the ashes.
“John called me at 1 a.m. when it happened,” King basketball coach Chris Senoga-Zake said. “The house burned down real quick.”
Three days after Christmas last year, Ziegler’s junior season, his family’s home caught fire.
“He was in the room,” Ed Ziegler, John’s father, said. “When I came into the room, the room was on fire. I’m yelling get out of bed! Why are you yelling at me? There’s a fire right here.”
“I had been living in that house for 17 years,” Ziegler said. “I lost my childhood home, a whole bunch of pictures from when I was little.”
“He literally lost everything. Brand new shoes, everything,” Senoga-Zake said. “I picked him up, got him some stuff, and he went on to score 28 points that night.”
Despite the chaos that Ziegler was experiencing, basketball gave him peace.
“I love playing basketball. I like being here,” Ziegler said. “I don’t think about anything when I play basketball. I just do it. It’s fun.”
Now a senior, he has played on the varsity team all four years.
“When John came to King High School, I told him he might not even play J.V.,” Senoga-Zake said. “He might come off the bench as a J.V. player. Playing as a freshman, I could see his work ethic and talent.”
From a long shot to a big shot, Ziegler is in the midst of a historic season scoring 19 points per game while passing Leo Murray’s 1,421 career points for most in school history.
“Without my teammates, none of this would be possible,” he said. “This year, this team, we’re better meshing together. More team chemistry than any other teams I’ve been on.”
Ziegler may have lost his childhood house, but the basketball court is his home.
“He’s a gym rat. He does anything for the team,” Senoga-Zake said.
