Auburn basketball player preview series: PG Zep Jasper

Here's a look at Auburn basketball's steadiest presence on the team.

Still one of the most, if not the most, important position in basketball is the point guard. Auburn’s starting point guard from their historic 2021-2022 season, Zep Jasper, plans to use his covid year of eligibility and return to the tigers for his “super senior” season.

The 6-foot-1 point guard from Augusta Georgia, was originally from the 2016 recruiting class. Jasper then played his first 3 seasons at the College of Charleston. In Jaspers last season with Charleston, he averaged 15.6 points a game and 2.6 assists. 

After the 2020-2021 season came to a close, Jasper decided to enter the portal with the chance at a bigger opportunity, and around a month and a half later, he commits to join Bruce Pearl and the Tigers. Jasper saw immediate impact opportunity to come join the tiger backcourt after the losses of Sharife Cooper, Justin Powell, and Turbo Jones. Jasper played and started in 32 out of the 34 games Auburn played this year as a senior. 

Jasper averaged 5.1 points and 2.1 assists per game with an incredible assist to turnover ratio at 2.7:1 which ranked top in the SEC. Jasper had some great offensive games in his role like when he scored 15 vs Ole Miss and scored 13 @ South Carolia and against @ USF. With all that said, Jasper's impact and his ability on the defensive end is what makes him so special. 

Auburn had 2 of the best defenders in college basketball this year and that’s one of the many reasons the tigers were so successful this year. Jasper was one of the best on ball perimeter defenders at the college level. With Jasper’s decision to use his super senior year and return to Auburn, and to keep alongside his backcourt mates from last year, Wendell Green Jr and KD Johnson, while also adding Tre Donaldson as a freshman, could get complicated in terms of minutes. 

But all four of those guys are great players and all of them want to win and will do whatever it takes to end up in Houston in April next year with a chance to come home with a trophy and a ring.