LOS ANGELES — If there was any lingering skepticism about DeMar DeRozan's NBA upside entering the Pac-10 Tournament, he obliterated it.

Of course we knew he'd make it to the league someday, and probably sooner than later. But whether he was really lottery-worthy, whether he really had superstar stuff, those were questions still unanswered.

No one is wondering today. Not after DeRozan earned tournament Most Outstanding Player honors. Not after he averaged 21 points and nine rebounds in three upset victories. Not after he scored a game-high 25 points in USC's NCAA-clinching 66-63 victory over Arizona State on Saturday.

Daniel Hackett was the final Trojan to cut down the net during the joyous postgame ceremony, but he gladly surrendered it to his freshman teammate.

"Because he deserved it," Hackett said. "I think the MVP should take home the net."

DeRozan was sitting in the next locker stall over, the net by his side. As has been the case after every game of late, he had to field several questions about his pending NBA draft decision. As always, he politely answered all of them and stuck to his mantra.

"Right now," DeRozan said, "I just want to stay focused on USC."

He hasn't wavered since the Trojans' first practice in October. That day, he told Tim Floyd: "Coach,

I don't want to talk about the NBA. I don't want to talk about moving on. I want to be the best player I can be for this basketball team. I want you to coach me, I want you to push me, I want you to drive me. There is a lot of stuff I still have to learn."

And Floyd thought: "Boy, this kid gets it. There's not many of them that come to college with his reputation that are willing to hear and listen and get better."

Frankly, DeRozan needed to get better. A consensus top-10 recruit out of Compton High, he came to USC with dunk-contest-winning athleticism and little clue how to play halfcourt offense or positional defense.

He struggled to find his way at first, failing to reach double digits in three of USC's first five games. He looked uncertain at times, just drifting around the perimeter, and that made him seem unaggressive — and unimpressive. It made some question what all the hype was about.

DeRozan insists he never listened to the hype or the critics. Floyd did, and he didn't much like it.

"I got tired of people talking about what's wrong with DeRozan all year long," Floyd said. "We put too much pressure on guys like DeMar and (UCLA freshman) Jrue Holiday because of all these people who rate high school players."

DeRozan listened to Floyd and improved markedly. When I asked Floyd a few weeks ago to assess DeRozan's progress, the coach raised his hand to mimic an airplane's takeoff. "Steady ascension," Floyd said.

It was readily evident at Staples Center against Arizona State's zone. DeRozan kept moving, kept finding openings and kept sinking shots. He made 10 of 16 field-goal attempts — making him 23 of 40 in the tournament, an efficient 57.5 percent — and only one was one of his patented dunks.

Would he have been able to solve a similarly tricky defense back in November?

"It would have been tough," DeRozan said. "No high school player sees defenses like that."

Less than a year removed from high school, DeRozan was skipping around the Staples Center court, a Pac-10 championship cap perched backward atop his head.

He jumped up and down with his teammates, fist-bumped and high-fived everyone in sight, then finally climbed the stands to hug his mother and father.

Getting to play in front of them this season was "the most I could ever ask for," DeRozan said.

If he does leave for the NBA, he probably won't have that opportunity next season. Then again, the Clippers always have a lottery pick.