Why Zep Jasper is an 'extremely valuable piece' to Auburn basketball's title hopes

Whether it's at point guard or shooting guard, the Tigers are putting a lot of faith in "The Honey Badger" — and for good reason.

PG/SG Zep Jasper (@AuburnMBB on Twitter)

Last year, Auburn had one of the youngest rosters in college basketball. Of the Tigers’ regular rotation pieces, only two — Jamal Johnson and Javon Franklin — were upperclassmen.

Both were juniors. There were no seniors. Everyone else was a freshman or a sophomore.

In the massive surge of transfers in college basketball thanks to the immediate one-time eligibility rule passed by the NCAA, both Johnson (UAB) and Franklin (South Alabama) went elsewhere.

Bruce Pearl revamped his roster once again. Auburn signed the highest-rated player in program history (Jabari Smith), then surrounded him with four transfer pickups. Three of them — Walker Kessler, Wendell Green Jr. and K.D. Johnson — had only played just one year of college basketball.

Then there’s Zep Jasper, who will enter Friday’s exhibition game against Division II power Southern Indiana as the only senior expected to be in the Tigers’ deep rotation.

Jasper has been on a college roster for the la…