Texas' Kamaka Hepa is Riding Out Quarantine on Top of the World

The current international coronavirus pandemic has changed nearly everyone's life in one way or another, but few of us have seen as drastic a change as Texas forward Kamaka Hepa.

On March 12 at 11 a.m. Hepa's mind was 100 percent focused on helping his University of Texas basketball team get through a first-round matchup with Texas Tech, but that game never happened.

"I know for me and my teammates especially like it was more of a feeling shocked, like it didn't feel real at the time," Hepa said.

Officials pulled both the Red Raiders and Longhorns off the court, put them on planes back to Lubbock and Austin, respectively.

Upon arriving back in Austin, players were sent on spring break with the idea that they would likely return to campus in a couple of weeks. For Hepa that meant a trip back to back home to Barrow, Alaska.

The northernmost city in the United States, a trip to Barrow takes more than a full day with 10 hours of travel time, four plane rides and an overnight stay in Anchorage.

It was there, north of the Arctic Circle that the reality of the situation started to kick in for Hepa.

"It didn't kind of kick in until I was home, and I was told that I was going to be home for a long time," he said. "That's when it started to feel real and, and we had to adjust to this new life that we have."

The term "new normal" has taken on different meanings for different people over the past few months.

For Hepa it means returning to a town where whaling season is the No. 1 priority for much of the population. Crews head out to the sea in an attempt to harpoon and drag whales onto the ice where they can be harvested. The catch will feed several families for several months.

"That's just the culture that I grew up in," he said. "And a lot of people take a lot of pride in it, and I definitely enjoy doing it and just being a part of it."

With gyms closed and the city's typical hellacious weather it was nearly a month after arriving back in Barrow before Hepa was even able to shoot a basketball.

"(Basketball) It's definitely something that I missed doing and something I am never going to take for granted ever again," Hepa said.

In addition to workouts, video conference meetings with coaches and teammates and online classes, Hepa has decided to fill some of his time by training to become an EMT.

For Hepa, it means following a family legacy. His grandfather was recruited to Barrow from Fairbanks Alaska to become the city's first-ever fire chief.

"College students are given an opportunity to sign up for a temporary college intern position," Hepa said. "They're able to work for the different departments in our local government. So basically what you do is you just sign up for that application and then they kind of place you depending on certain factors."

While the current situation isn't ideal, Hepa is enjoying the time he has among family and friends back in his hometown, a place he hadn't been back to since leaving after his sophomore year in high school.

"I've definitely have appreciated this time that I've been home," Hepa said. "It does give you a really good perspective on on how important certain things are. One thing that's most influenced me is just how important my family is."

Meanwhile, in what seems like a world away, Hepa's Longhorns are starting to get some buzz going into the 2020-21 season. The addition of five-star recruit Greg Brown and the return of every player on the two-deep roster has many pundits making Texas a trendy pick to win the Big 12.

For Hepa's first two seasons on the Forty Acres the Longhorns were always hanging on in the margins, just on the bubble of the squads that make the NCAA Tournament. Being a frontrunner may be new, but it's not something overly concerning to the will-be junior.

"I understand that a lot of it (the hype) is circumstantial," Hepa said. "We are trying to focus on things that are more consistent."

While Hepa may be spending the spring and early summer literally on top of the world, it's pretty obvious that he's managed to stay grounded and rooted in to what's important.

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