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Kamaka Hepa

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Kamaka Hepa
Hepa in November 2018
No. 44 – Rīgas Zeļļi
PositionPower forward
LeagueLEBL
Personal information
Born (2000-01-27) January 27, 2000 (age 24)
Barrow, Alaska, U.S.
(now Utqiagvik, Alaska)
Listed height6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight215 lb (98 kg)
Career information
High school
College
NBA draft2023: undrafted
Playing career2023–present
Career history
2023Zastal Zielona Góra
2024Rīgas Zeļļi
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  United States
FIBA Americas U18 Championship
Gold medal – first place 2018 Canada Team

Kamaka Qapqan Hepa (born January 27, 2000) is an American professional basketball player who last played for Rīgas Zeļļi of the Latvian-Estonian Basketball League. He played college basketball for the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and the Texas Longhorns.

Early life

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Hepa was born and brought up in Barrow, Alaska (now known as Utqiagvik), the northernmost community in the United States.[1] He grew up playing club basketball for the Alaska Mountaineers, with whom he won tournaments in North Carolina and California.[2] As a freshman and sophomore, Hepa played for Barrow High School. In each season, he led his team to the Class 3A state title and was named Alaska Gatorade Player of the Year.[3][4]

In March 2016, Hepa moved to Portland, Oregon to gain more exposure and to play for Portland Basketball Club on the Amateur Athletic Union circuit.[5] He also enrolled at Jefferson High School, where he played under head coach Pat Strickland.[6] As a junior, Hepa averaged 16.4 points and 11.3 rebounds per game, leading Jefferson to its first Class 6A state title.[7] In his senior season, he led his team to a Class 6A runner-up finish. After averaging 16.5 points, 10.4 rebounds and 6.2 blocks per game, he was named Oregon Gatorade Player of the Year.[8] On October 31, 2017, Hepa committed to playing college basketball for Texas as a four-star recruit.[9]

College career

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In February 2019, as a freshman, Hepa suffered a head injury in practice and missed two games in concussion protocol.[10] On February 27, 2019, in his first career start, he scored a freshman season-high 11 points in an 84–83 loss to Baylor.[11] He finished the season averaging 1.9 points and 1.6 rebounds in 10.3 minutes per game.[12] On January 15, 2020, in his sophomore season, Hepa scored a career-high 15 points and four rebounds in a 76–64 win over Oklahoma State.[13] As a sophomore, he averaged 2.9 points and two rebounds in 13.5 minutes per game.[12] In his junior season, he played nine games and averaged 2.9 points in 6.4 minutes per game.[14]

In 2021, Hepa was named an Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar by Diverse: Issues In Higher Education.[15]

On April 25, 2021 Hepa announced that he would transfer to Hawaii.[16] In 27 games, Hepa averaged 9.4 points in 28.1 minutes per game.[17]

Professional career

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On July 3, 2023, Hepa was included in the New Orleans Pelicans 2023 Summer League roster.[18]

On August 19, 2023, he signed with Zastal Zielona Góra of the Polish Basketball League.[19] In early December, he temporarily returned to the United States due to the sudden death of his father.[20] He was supposed to return, but he officially parted ways with team by mutual agreement on January 14, 2024.[21]

National team career

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Hepa represented the United States at the 2018 FIBA Under-18 Americas Championship in St. Catharines, Ontario.[22] He averaged 3.3 points and five rebounds per game, winning a gold medal.[23]

Career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

College

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2018–19 Texas 27 1 10.3 .291 .310 .857 1.6 .3 .0 .3 1.9
2019–20 Texas 22 10 13.5 .361 .292 .667 2.0 .6 .2 .6 2.9
2020–21 Texas 9 1 6.4 .500 .500 .000 1.0 .1 .1 .2 2.9
2021–22 Hawaii 27 27 28.1 .440 .396 .804 5.0 1.4 .4 .7 9.4
2022–23 Hawaii 33 33 32.6 .424 .387 .842 6.6 1.5 .5 .8 11.5
Career 118 72 20.9 .413 .374 .808 3.8 .9 .3 .6 6.6

Personal life

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Hepa's father, Roland Hepa, died in December 2023.[20] He was originally from Kapa'a, Hawaii and was of Hawaiian and Filipino descent. Hepa's mother, Taqulik (née Opie), is an Iñupiaq from Utqiagvik.[1][24] His mother played basketball for Barrow High School, while his father was a multi-sport athlete in high school.[6]

Hepa's older sister, Lynette, was a standout basketball player for Barrow High School before playing collegiately at Fort Lewis College.[2] On November 23, 2015, his half-brother, Radford Kawika Hepa, was shot and killed in Anchorage, Alaska.[1][6] Kamaka’s younger brother, Keoni, is a collegiate football player at Simon Fraser.

References

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  1. ^ a b c Dauster, Rob (July 20, 2017). "From the Top of the World to the Edge of a Dream: Kamaka Hepa's journey from Alaska to Division I hoops". NBC Sports. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  2. ^ a b Williams, Van (December 10, 2014). "Fabulous freshman: Barrow's Hepa is one of nation's rising stars". ASAA365. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  3. ^ Gardner, Hayes (January 4, 2018). "From Alaska to Austin (and Portland in between), it's been a long journey for Texas men's signee Kamaka Hepa". Hookem.com. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  4. ^ Moyle, Nick (December 13, 2018). "Texas freshman Kamaka Hepa the next 'Alaskan Assassin'". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  5. ^ Schmidt, Brad (March 22, 2018). "Jefferson HS basketball star Kamaka Hepa leaves Portland for Alaskan homecoming". OregonLive.com. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  6. ^ a b c Lester, Marc (March 1, 2018). "Kamaka Hepa's shot, from behind the Arctic Circle". Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  7. ^ Daschel, Nick (March 11, 2017). "Jefferson claims its first 6A boys basketball title, outlasting Clackamas 70-67 in final". OregonLive.com. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  8. ^ Davis, Brian (December 14, 2018). "The Alaskan Longhorn: Kamaka Hepa's long-range shooting welcome after long journey to Texas". Hookem.com. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  9. ^ Nathan, Alec (October 31, 2017). "4-Star PF Recruit Kamaka Hepa Commits to Texas over Gonzaga, Others". Bleacher Report. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  10. ^ Eberts, Wescott (February 18, 2019). "Texas F Kamaka Hepa in concussion protocol after practice injury". Burnt Orange Nation. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  11. ^ "Men's Basketball drops OT heartbreaker at Baylor, 84-83". University of Texas Athletics. February 27, 2019. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  12. ^ a b "Kamaka Hepa". University of Texas Athletics. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  13. ^ "Men's Basketball posts 76-64 win at Oklahoma State". University of Texas Athletics. January 15, 2020. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  14. ^ Gates, Riley (April 6, 2021). "Kamaka Hepa enters NCAA Transfer Portal". 247Sports. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  15. ^ "Kamaka Hepa". 2021. Cox, Matthews and Associates. Retrieved September 7, 2001.
  16. ^ Shimabuku, Christian (April 25, 2021). "Hawaii men's basketball gains commitment from Texas transfer Kamaka Hepa". KHON-TV. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  17. ^ "Kamaka Hepa". Sports Reference. December 26, 2022. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  18. ^ "New Orleans Pelicans announce 2023 NBA 2K24 Summer League roster presented by TripADeal". www.nba.com. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  19. ^ "Kamaka Hepa z rocznym kontraktem". basketzg.pl (in Polish). August 19, 2023. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  20. ^ a b "Michał Pluta i Kamaka Hepa oficjalnie odeszli z Zastalu" [Michał Pluta and Kamaka Hepa officially left Zastal]. sport.zgora.pl (in Polish). January 14, 2024. Retrieved January 20, 2024.
  21. ^ Sadłowski, Tomasz (January 14, 2024). "Michał Pluta i Kamaka Hepa odchodzą z klubu. Dziękujemy" [Michał Pluta and Kamaka Hepa leave the club. Thank you]. basketzg.pl (in Polish). Retrieved January 20, 2024.
  22. ^ Ringo, Kyle (June 13, 2018). "From the Northern Tip of Alaska, Kamaka Hepa Is Showing the North Has Its Share of Hoops Talent". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on November 29, 2021. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  23. ^ "Hepa: "I'm proudly representing my community, Alaska and the USA"". FIBA. June 15, 2018. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  24. ^ Barnhouse, Wendell (April 17, 2018). "The odyssey of Kamaka Hepa, from a remote town in Alaska to four-star Longhorns recruit". The Athletic. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
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