For Kamaka Hepa, it is all about the details.

Hepa is a starting power forward, co-captain, a graduate student in finance, and a student assistant for Bank of Hawaii’s commercial credit group.

“It’s time management,” Hepa said. “I would say the key is getting prepared the day before, just kind of getting my day down. What am I going to do? … It can be a lot if you take it all at once. But when you break it down into bite-sized pieces, it makes it a lot easier. And it’s going to pay off in the long run.”

Hepa uses that approach in preparing for each practice and game. The topography of college basketball has changed, especially in defining positions, and now what used to be the post position can be subdivided into several categories. At 6 feet 10, Hepa is a true stretch-four who can launch 3s, maneuver past defenders on drives, or facilitate the offense as a point forward. Depending on the strategy and circumstances, Hepa can slide to the wings or move into the post.

“The game has changed,” Hepa said, “and I feel it’s going to continue to evolve faster and faster.”

Hepa grew up in Alaska marveling at the leaps and bounds of the player known as Superman.

“Dwight Howard was my favorite player from when I was 10 years old,” Hepa said of the winner of the 2008 NBA Slam Dunk Contest. “Now it’s about being able to shoot and spread the court out. I feel I’m the type of player who’s good in those situations. I think it’s good for my game, and I think it’s good for the game of basketball. It’s more exciting.”

Hepa was reared in an Alaskan town now known as Utqiagvik, in which the population is half the capacity of the 10,000-seat Stan Sheriff Center.

“I was the tallest person in my town, for sure,” Hepa said. “Being able to play basketball up there was all I knew, really. I was close with my cousins and my friends up there, and basketball was pretty much all we did everyday.”

In the summertime, when Utqiagvik gets 22 hours of functional daylight, “I would go to my cousin’s house and we’d play out on his dirt court right in his yard,” Hepa recalled. “We were always competing as young’uns.”

They did not know how good they were until they participated in a youth tournament in Anchorage. They won that, and kept winning ensuing games and tournaments.

As a sophomore, Hepa moved to Portland, where he developed into a nationally acclaimed 4-star player at Jefferson High. He turned down offers from Gonzaga, Oregon, Stanford, USC, among many, to commit to Texas. In three years with the Longhorns, he played in 60 games — 12 starts — and earned a degree in sports management. He then transferred to UH. His father was born and reared on Kauai, and he has several relatives there and on Maui.

“I think he’s the best power forward in our league,” associate head coach John Montgomery said of Hepa. “I think it’s going to help him playing his natural position, You’ll see him play some stretch-five, which will be a really hard guard for teams. Our job as a staff is to find shots for him. He can really shoot the ball. And, obviously, by him being on the floor, he opens up things for other guys. … His ability to score inside has improved. His physicality has improved. Those are some things that you’ll see him take the next step.”

Bernardo da Silva also has developed entering his fourth UH season. At 6-9 with a 7-2 wing span, da Silva has invested hours studying video of shot-blockers such as Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks and Hakeem Olajuwon, a Hall of Fame center.

“I like blocking shots and rebounding and playing defense,” da Silva said.

This offseason, he worked on extending his range. In 47 UH games, none of his 211 shots was launched from behind the arc. While he has improved his strength — he weighed as much as 220 in fall training — maintaining that weight has not been easy because of the number of calories he burns during games and practices.

“We look for him to be a huge factor for us inside,” Montgomery said, “being a guy that we can throw it to and score the ball and being a guy that can rebound for us and defend the post. We’re excited about the year we expect from Bernardo.”

Harry Rouhliadeff, a 6-9 freshman from Australia, projects as the first post off the bench. “Harry, to me, is the freshman version of Jerome Desrosiers,” Montgomery said of last year’s versatile post. “He’s a guy who can play the four and the five. He’s very compliant. He listens. He learns. He wants to do right. He’s a smart IQ player. I think he can really shoot the 3 and be physical inside.”

Mor Sek, a Senegal resident who attended Prolific Prep in Napa, Calif., last year, is 7 feet with a 7-6 wing span. “Mor is a very fluid athlete,” Montgomery said. “He’s a true center for us, and a guy that hopefully continues to improve and make an impact for us.”