“Late Clock Brocke” almost never happened for Hawaii.

It was late in Brocke Stepteau’s senior season at Dallas Jesuit high, and the options were precious few for the point guard with the productive game in a compact frame. Stepteau, all of 5 feet 9, had one serious Division I opportunity — St. Peter’s University in New Jersey — but a campus visit left him unimpressed. He could go to prep school on the East Coast, but, Stepteau figured, that wouldn’t help him physically grow, and thus wouldn’t magically cause offers to rain down from the heavens.

“That’s kind of been my story, since I was little growing up,” Stepteau said. “As far as basketball goes, no one really expected me to do anything significant. I’ve always been small. When I was in high school, it was, ‘oh, he’s not going to be able to play Division I because he’s too small and not athletic enough.’ ”

He was prepared to drop the game entirely during that “low point,” and go off to college strictly as a student.

The opportunity came in the final month of the 2014 school year. Hawaii offered him not a scholarship, but a preferred walk-on spot. Stepteau decided Hawaii had a nice ring to it and pledged himself to then-coach Gib Arnold, sight unseen.

He arrived as a 17-year-old just before all hell broke loose. A years-long NCAA investigation was launched, Arnold got fired, and interim coach Benjy Taylor took over what he called “a rudderless ship” at an impromptu press conference.

And yet, three-plus years of steady progression later, Stepteau is a valued hand at the wheel for Eran Ganot’s 7-2 Rainbow Warriors, who take on No. 6 Miami (9-0) in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic opening round Friday night.

“He’s grown so much as a person,” Ganot said. “He’s at his best right now in all walks of life.”

The closer

Stepteau, last year’s starter at the point for 22 games, has shifted to the bench for the start of games as a fourth-year junior but more often than not is on the floor to finish them. He is Hawaii’s fourth-leading scorer (9.1 ppg) and its leading shooter, at 61 percent (25-for-41) from the floor. He’s distributing the ball at close to a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

The shooting is impressive — particularly for a guard with a perpetual size disadvantage — but doesn’t do justice to the many instances he’s bailed out his team with a late basket or assist. The latest came Sunday against Utah Valley; Stepteau hit two of his trademark floaters to rally his team back to even against the Wolverines with under eight minutes left, then kicked out to Sheriff Drammeh for the go-ahead 3-pointer with 37.5 seconds left.

Ganot has repeatedly praised Stepteau’s heady plays, which have also helped UH to squeeze out tight games against North Dakota, Troy, Adams State and Prairie View A&M.

Kanoa Leahey, Spectrum Sports’ play-by-play man, dubbed Stepteau “Late Clock Brocke” after UVU.

This ability to seize the moment did not simply emerge from the Manoa mist. Stepteau hit a game-winning 3 in a second-round playoff game his junior year at Dallas Jesuit, and it wasn’t the only one that year.

For a person who admittedly shuns the spotlight in many social settings, he has an outsized knack for decision making in tight situations. It’s analogous to recording a track in a Kalihi studio, something he’s done frequently in the past two years to further his budding rap career on Soundcloud. “Step,” as he goes by, discovered a kindred spirit in sophomore guard Brandon Thomas. He’s recorded 20-plus tracks with “Bran Knew.”

Stepteau chalked up his improved court (and word) play to the hardest work he’s ever put in during an offseason. An area of emphasis was his decision making on drives and jump stops into the lane. He now pump fakes opposing big men with great success.

Walk-on wonder

Stepteau is still a walk-on, something he says he’s not much concerned about. (He was given a one-year scholarship last year when UH had its allotment restored to 13 by the NCAA. However, UH may not reassign the scholarship it gains back mid-year from the early departure of Jaaron Stallworth.)

Loyalty is a prized trait in the Stepteau family. His father, Torrence, encouraged him to stay with the same AAU and high school teams.

Torrence Stepteau grew up in a hardscrabble neighborhood in Baton Rouge, La., and beat the odds to go to medical school and become an anesthesiologist.

“We’ve always been, it’s tough, it’s hard but it’s fair,” Torrence said. “Work your tail off, outwork everybody, and if you have the talent, you’ll be there. I’m glad that has rubbed off on him.”

UH’s Stepteau will graduate in the spring with a political science degree. He intends to play out his fifth overall year of college basketball here, then will likely pursue his music full-time.

“I just knew, continue to put in the work and eventually maybe my time will (come),” Brocke Stepteau said. “And it happened.”