Zep Jasper held up his phone and showed off a photo of a polaroid he has saved in his favorites folder.

It’s of the Auburn guard wearing a hat, his hair jutting out from underneath it, and a pair of white-rimmed sunglasses obscuring his eyes as he holds up a pair of stuffed toys. One of them is immediately recognizable, with its long, spiky blue hair that — color aside — is reminiscent of Jasper’s own distinct hairstyle.

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It’s Sonic the Hedgehog, the famously blue videogame (and now movie) hero with a need for speed and a proclivity for collecting gold rings. Jasper has a fondness of Sonic that dates back to his childhood, when he became entranced by the Sonic the Hedgehog games on his Nintendo system. (Jasper is Auburn’s oldest player, but even he isn’t old enough to be familiar with the Sega system iteration of those games).

“Sonic is one of those guys that he can’t be stopped,” Jasper said. “He’s fast, he’s quick, and I think no other hero can stop Sonic.”

And yes, Sonic is the inspiration for Jasper’s hairdo.

“That’s my favorite character,” Jasper said. “Sonic, he inspired me to have my hair like this. That’s why I like the crazy, wild look with my hair.”

Jasper’s hair is unmistakable, and he says “without a doubt” that he has the best hair on the team. It was somewhat of a surprising proclamation, given Jasper’s penchant for boosting up others — from his own teammates (the enthusiasm with which he brags on them is infections) to Auburn’s biggest rival (he said earlier this week that he’s rooting for Alabama to make a run in the tournament). But Jasper’s hair is a point of pride and source of unwavering confidence. Without it, he says, he “wouldn’t be able to do nothing in life.”

In other words: Jasper has no plans of cropping his locks anytime soon. But the hairstyle isn’t the only thing linking Jasper to his favorite character. There’s a tattoo, as well, on the top of his right hand.

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The tattoo is of Sonic’s head, and Jasper got it on his dominant hand while he was still at the College of Charleston back during the 2019-20 season. Funny story: He got the tattoo done the day before Charleston’s game against Delaware — a game that saw Jasper’s only basket come in the form of a 4-point play with just under 3 minutes to play.

“My hand was pretty swollen, and I still went out there and balled out,” Jasper said. “My hand was like all puffed up, but hey, it ain’t affecting me. I went out there and played as hard as I can.”

Jasper drained a corner 3-pointer and drew a foul in front of Charleston’s bench to put his team in front for good in an eventual 80-71 win. Teammates rushed over to him and mobbed him in celebration before helping him up. Jasper’s 3-pointer and subsequent free throw were part of a 22-4 run that saw Charleston erase a 10-point second-half deficit on its home floor.

“I had a lot of guys tapping my hand, but I was like, ‘Hey, Sonic did work,’” Jasper said. “I was happy that I made the shot, and I believe that it was Sonic the Hedgehog.”

While Jasper is better known as the “Honey Badger” for his tenacious on-ball defense, he feels sympatico with Sonic the Hedgehog—and believes the plucky animated protagonist would make for an incredible basketball player, one that would be held in the same regard as Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. While Jasper doesn’t hold himself in that same tier, he does feel like he and Sonic would share some traits on the court.

“When I’m playing defense, it’s like, ‘Hey man, you ain’t going around me; I’m going to stop you no matter what,’” Jasper said. “I always got that mentality from him.”

Jasper is carrying that mentality into Auburn’s second-round matchup with top-seeded Houston on Saturday night in Birmingham. Jasper and the Tigers’ backcourt will face a tall order against the Cougars, who are led by AAC Player of the Year Marcus Sasser. Though Sasser is dealing with a groin issue he aggravated in Houston’s opening-round win against Northern Kentucky, the 6-foot-1 guard is averaging 16.7 points per game and shooting 38.2 percent from beyond the arc.

Jasper thinks Sonic the Hedgehog would be the type of defender who could contain Sasser and hold him scoreless. He also thinks Sonic could stop Auburn big man Johni Broome, who scored 19 points and pulled down a dozen rebounds with five blocks in the Tigers’ opening-round win.

“Sonic the Hedgehog, he all over the court,” Jasper said. “You can’t stop that dude. He’s just one of those types of guys.”

Jasper will try to be that type of guy against Houston, and while he wasn’t about to assert that he’d keep Sasser out of the scorebook in the teams’ 6:10 p.m. matchup at Legacy Arena, his goal is seemingly more attainable: Win and advance to the Sweet 16.

“The goal is to beat Houston,” Jasper said. “That’s going to be the goal, and that’s what I’m trying to do.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.