'We're underdogs, but we can win': Auburn's Zep Jasper fired up for one more March run
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Auburn guard Zep Jasper, in many ways, is the heart and soul of this basketball team. He’s what Bruce Pearl wants his team’s identity to look like. Hard nosed, unselfish and tough.
Jasper started last season at point guard, but was mostly overshadowed by Wendell Green Jr. coming off the bench and putting up large quantities of points alongside Jabari Smith and Walker Kessler. This season, Jasper has found himself starting most games again, but at the two-guard position, giving up the point guard position to Green Jr. Jasper only averages three points per contest. There’s games where he plays 25-plus minutes and there’s games where he barely plays 10 minutes.
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But if you’re looking for a player to hang their head about playing time or wanting more individual notoriety, look elsewhere. The fifth-year senior transfer from College of Charleston is winding down his college career in the NCAA Tournament, but let me tell you, he’s nowhere near ready to be finished.
“You’re fighting for your life now,” Jasper said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You have to make sure you’re playing your hardest for 40 minutes. If you aren’t, this team can drag us out of the gym if we aren’t playing for 40 minutes. 40 minutes is the key to this game. Auburn, hard-nosed defense, in their chest…”
Zep Jasper averaged over 15 points per game during his junior season at Charleston, yet transferred to Auburn where he knew his minutes and production were going to diminish. It didn’t matter. Jasper wanted to win championships and do great things, and he has. He started for a SEC Championship basketball team, and a team that earned the school’s first AP No. 1 ranking. But that doesn’t seem to be enough.
“I want to win so bad because I want to make history. Not just one-game history, but history history,” Jasper said. “I won a SEC Championship, but coming in as a 2 seed and losing to Miami, I feel like this year could be different. We’re the underdogs. People aren’t looking for us to win any games, they are counting us out already. We have to put that in perspective. Nobody is counting on us, so we have to let them know that Auburn is here. We’re underdogs, but we can win.”
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Auburn’s double-digit loss to Miami last March was certainly a shocker. Nobody saw it coming, certainly not the players. Zep Jasper feels like things are positioned to be different this time around.
“It’s a different attitude. Our confidence isn’t what it was last year. We were coming in as Auburn, we’re the number 2 seed, we’ve been number one for five weeks. Now, we have nothing to lose,” Jasper said. “We’ve lost close games all year, but you have to give it your all. Some of us might not play together again in our life. This is our last opportunity, our last chance. We have to make the best of it. We have to come in with our working boots on. We have to climb a mountain, because if we don’t, it won’t be success. We don’t want to go home, especially being two hours from Auburn.
“We’ve been through it now. We’ve seen this phase. Nothing is new now. It’s game time now. We’re not taking any opponent lightly. Iowa is a great team, coached by a great coach, but it’s on now. Last year we were starstruck that we were in March Madness — this year, we haven’t made history. We can make history. This is the time you make history, this is the time you make things happen. Anything is possible. We have a chance because we’re the underdogs.”
The Tigers and the Hawkeyes tipoff at 5:50 p.m. CT on Thursday inside Legacy Arena. The game will be televised on TNT.
