Alaska basketball players Kamaka Hepa and Matt Hobbs head to NCAA Tournament

Updated: March 15, 2021 Published: March 14, 2021

Matt Hobbs of Anchorage is a senior guard for the Hartford Hawks, who are making their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament. (Photo courtesy Steve McLaughlin / Hartford Athletics)

Kamaka Hepa of Utqiagvik and Matt Hobbs of Anchorage are getting ready to dance.

Both play for men’s basketball teams that qualified for the NCAA Division I Tournament, affectionately known as the Big Dance.

Hepa is a junior for the Texas Longhorns, who beat Oklahoma State 91-86 Saturday night to earn the Big 12 Title and a spot in the 64-team tournament.

University of Texas basketball team members tour the Get In The Game exhibit at the LBJ Library. Brock Cunningham, Gerald Liddell, Kamaka Hepa, Jaxson Hayes, Jericho Sims and Courtney Ramey pose for a photo with a statue of President Johnson. LBJ Library photo by Jay Godwin 11/27/2018

Hobbs is a senior for the Hartford Hawks, who defeated UMass-Lowell 64-50 Saturday to claim the American East conference championship, which also comes with a tournament berth.

Both play sparingly.

Hepa, a 6-foot-9 forward, led the Barrow Whalers to two Class 3A state championships in Alaska before transferring to a Portland high school for two seasons. He has appeared in seven games this season for the 19-7 Longhorns, averaging seven minutes, 2.9 points and 1.0 rebounds.

[Kamaka Hepa brings the energy for Longhorns, and given the chance he brings the heat too]

The Longhorns’ run through the Big 12 tournament started with a 67-66 squeaker over Texas Tech. They were set to play Kansas in the semifinals, but the nationally ranked Jayhawks had to pull out of the game when a player tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. That put Hepa and his teammates in the championship game against Oklahoma State.

Kamaka Hepa of Utquivik is at the NCAA Tournament with the nationally ranked Texas Longhorns. (Stephen Spillman / Courtesy University of Texas Athletics)

Hobbs, a 6-4 guard, graduated from South High and then spent a year at the Impact Basketball Academy in Las Vegas. He spent one season at New England University before transferring to Hartford for the 2018-19 season.

He’s seen action in seven games this season for 15-8 Hartford, which is making its first NCAA Tournament appearance. Hobbs averages a minute per game and hasn’t tallied any points or rebounds.

The NCAA Tournament begins Thursday in Indianapolis. The full field and pairings will be announced Sunday afternoon.

Beth Bragg

Beth Bragg wrote about sports and other topics for the ADN for more than 35 years, much of it as sports editor. She retired in October 2021. She's contributing coverage of Alaskans involved in the 2022 Winter Olympics.