Auburn basketball rumors: Tigers in lead to land transfer Zep Jasper

Auburn basketball fans should be hopeful that the team will continue its recruiting renaissance on the Plains since Bruce Pearl came to town, as it appears that the team is in a good position for the sweepstakes for College of Charleston transfer Zep Jasper.

Jasper, who scored 27 points in his final game with the Cougars in the team’s CAA tournament game against eventual champion Drexel, averaged 15.6 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 2.6 assists for the College of Charleston in 2020-21.

While his shot can be streaky, Jasper is a legitimate bucket-getter who took a major step forward in his junior year. His scoring more than doubled in his junior year, and he now looks to jump to a team with more national reach.

Auburn basketball could be that team:

2021 will be a significantly different season than the 2020-21 season was. While questions about what next season will look like is a legitimate question–with questions about how the vaccine handles the different variants of the COVID-19 pandemic still looming–there is no question the on-court product will definitely return to the standard the past few seasons have set.

Normal will be restored for the Tigers at least in the sense of being postseason eligible again. In what was a strange season where the player that was responsible for the punishment (Sharife Cooper) was held out for a seemingly arbitrary amount of games–conveniently being reinstated in time for Auburn’s first matchup against Alabama in an ESPN nationally televised game–2020-21 ended up being a down year for the Tigers in most respects.

The future is the focus now. Cooper is likely a goner, as is Justin Powell. Jabari Smith and Trey Alexander are incoming, and Zep Jasper could be the veteran balance the team needs.