LAHAINA »De’Andre Haskins is glad he stayed.

After another stellar outing for the Chaminade senior guard in the EA Sports Maui Invitational third-place game, so were his coach, teammates, and just about every neutral party present at the Lahaina Civic Center.

Even in a 42-point loss to No. 9 North Carolina in the tournament’s third-place game on Wednesday, the 6-foot-4 senior guard continued to churn out highlights. Haskins scored 22 points on 9-for-15 shooting in the 112-70 defeat, helping earn him all-tournament team honors to go with plenty of respect from his foes.

"I knew that I had one shot. One shot at showing everyone what I could do," Haskins said. "Show that I can play up there at the next level."

In three nationally televised Maui games, Haskins averaged 24.3 points with 6.7 rebounds, while shooting 54.8 percent from the field, 55.6 percent on 3-pointers and 94.4 percent at the free-throw line against Texas, tournament champ Illinois and North Carolina.

That he was still around to lead the tournament in scoring in his third season (second active) as a Silversword was something of a character transformation for the Long Beach, Calif., native, who typically hasn’t lasted in one place for long.

Despite playing a lot as a freshman at Division I Valparaiso, he decided to transfer to Citrus College as a sophomore to further his goal of playing professional basketball. From there, he landed at Division II Chaminade.

"That was a very immature decision that I made, being a freshman," Haskins said. "The young boy in me" — he paused — "was scared of sticking it out and rolling with the punches. … I didn’t want that to happen again."

After taking a secondary role in Chaminade’s defeat of Oklahoma in the Maui seventh-place game in 2010, Haskins took the long route back to the national stage. First, he had to decide if he’d switch schools again after a so-so (10.4 ppg) year. But he didn’t, largely thanks to some close friends.

"They told me the pros and cons of going to another school … continuously jumping from school to school. Think about that in the long run," he said. "I think my decision to stay here was a great decision because it showed I could stay in one place … and build relationships in that one particular environment."

Then he missed all of last season with a fracture in his left foot — but that ended up helping in the long run, he said, because he figured out who his true friends were. He felt he returned a smarter player.

"I’m so proud of him because he’s come a long ways, not only as a basketball player, but as a person, as a teammate," second-year Chaminade coach Eric Bovaird said. "He’s come a long ways, and we’re really proud of him in that aspect.

"We all knew … if I had one high-major, whatever, mid-major athlete, it was him. When he has his mind straight, he’s as good — he could play for these teams. I’m really proud of where he’s come."

In Chaminade’s 86-73 upset of Texas on Monday — only the fourth time the Silverswords advanced past the Maui first round since the event’s 1984 start — Haskins was simply phenomenal in the decisive second half.

He scored 27 of his career-best 32 points in the period, carrying his team to its seventh all-time win in the event.

Haskins got off to a slow start against Illinois on Tuesday, but still managed to finish with 19.

North Carolina coach Roy Williams congratulated Haskins for his high level of play after the third-place game, saying, "Get a national championship," as Haskins described it.

"He was fantastic in this tournament," Williams said. "What he did to Texas the other night is not usually done to a Rick Barnes-coached team. He was difficult for us to guard tonight … and we tried to focus on him."

After a lopsided first few minutes on Wednesday, there was little question that the steamed Tar Heels weren’t joining Chaminade’s victim list, Haskins or no Haskins. Carolina scored 22 points in the first five minutes, and connected on eight of its first 10 3-pointers to take a 62-33 lead into the half.

Haskins, though, did what he could with a 15-point first half on 6-for-9 shooting, including 3-for-4 on 3s. North Carolina forward James Michael McAdoo (team highs of 18 points, 10 boards) shook the Chaminade guard’s hand and nodded his respect outside of the postgame press conference.

Haskins’ breakout tournament could be a solid foundation for the rest of the ‘Swords’ nonconference season leading into PacWest play, and perhaps the D-II postseason beyond.

"It’s a blessing to be in Hawaii and grow and change as a man," Haskins said. "I’m hoping to do more things and do better things. Get a win in Maui, (now) a national championship would be great."