Texas lands 2018 4-star PF Kamaka Hepa

Four-star power forward Kamaka Hepa announced his commitment to the Texas Longhorns on Tuesday morning. The versatile 6’8 prospect from Portland (Ore.) Jefferson choose Texas over Gonzaga after visiting both schools in early September.

“After talking with my family, my mom and my dad, we have decided that the University of Texas is going to be the best option for me,” Hepa told Scout.

“For me, it was not only the relationship that I had, but also that my family had with coach Smart and the rest of the staff as well as going on the trip to Austin. I had a great time, bonded with the players and I really liked the environment. So those were some of the key things and I know a lot of people don’t see the fit of me going there but after talking with coach [Shaka] Smart and coach [Darrin] Horn I didn’t have a doubt in my mind that I could go down there and affect that program.”

In Shaka Smart’s up-tempo system, Hepa is the perfect fit because he brings lots of skill, versatility and an outside shooting stroke. Primarily recruited by Horn, Hepa was also able to sit down with Smart on his official visit and discuss how he’ll be employed by the Longhorns once he arrives in Austin.

Because Hepa is a good enough outside shooter to hit over 40 percent of his three-point attempts during Nike EYBL play this year, he’ll occupy a stretch four role that will open up driving lanes for the rest of the offense. Perhaps more importantly, Smart sold Hepa on having the offense run through him and the freedom that he’s afforded Dylan Osetkowski and Mohamad Bamba to facilitate transition opportunities after defensive rebounds.

Hepa is currently ranked as the No. 50 overall prospect in the 247Sports Composite rankings, the No. 13 power forward, and the No. 1 player in Oregon.

With the addition of Hepa, Texas now has four current commits in the 2018 class. Hepa joins SF Gerald Liddell, SF Brock Cunningham, and C Jaxson Hayes. This leaves Smart and staff with a strong recruiting class that could possibly add one, more depending on five-star guards Quentin Grimes and Keldon Johnson. Back-to-back top-10 recruiting classes are in sight for the ‘Horns.