Texas Basketball: 3 players shining as the losses continue to mount

2) Texas basketball players shining despite the losses

Kamaka Hepa, Power Forward

The player on this list among Longhorns standing out of late that has played the least in total this season is the former highly touted four-star recruit and junior power forward Kamaka Hepa. The Barrow, AK, native and 6-foot-9 and 220 pound stretch big man has played in just five games for the Longhorns so far this season (starting in only one of them).

Smart and the Longhorns could use more frequent appearances from an increasingly efficient Hepa down the stretch this season. If the Longhorns can get the likes of Hepa and shooting guard/wing Jase Febres back in the rotation on a consistent basis down the stretch this season, it will go a long way to bolster the depth in a much needed fashion.

In his bits and pieces of five games played so far this season, Hepa has averaged a whopping 17.9 points per 40 minutes, 5.1 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.9 blocks. He’s shot an efficient 46.7 percent from the field, 50.0 percent from beyond the arc, and 75.0 percent from the free-throw line.

That all has amounted to a solid 6.0 box plus/minus rating, .166 win shares per 40 minutes, 0.2 total win shares, 70.0 true shooting percentage, 119 offensive rating/98 defensive rating, and a 17.3 player efficiency rating.

Hepa didn’t get any playing time for Texas in the loss to Baylor, but he was solid off the bench in the Jan. 16 win over Kansas State and the Jan. 26 loss to Oklahoma. He can big a huge part of Smart’s bench down the stretch this season if he continues to get more playing time when healthy.