Deonte Tatum is the starting point guard and the unquestioned leader for the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team.

Think about that for a minute, and then think back to what went on last summer to truly appreciate the accomplishment.

"I just go out there and play hard every day," said Tatum, a 6-foot-3 senior. "I want to get better every day and make this team better every day."

Compared to last year, Tatum is a lot better.

He is averaging 7.8 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game, and is considered one of the team's best perimeter defenders.

"He doesn't put up big numbers, but he does all the little things," Hawai'i coach Riley Wallace said. "He'll go down and get you a tough (rebound), he'll post up if a smaller guy is on him, he'll shoot it only when he's open, and he can take bigger guys to the basket. He's just very unselfish."

Tatum opened last season as the starting point guard, but struggled the whole year with his offense. By the end of the season, he averaged 3.4 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game, and lost his starting role.

Understandably, the Hawai'i coaches recruited three point guards last summer (Hiram Thompson, Dominic Waters and John Wilder).

"I wasn't worried about it," Tatum said. "It didn't matter to me who they brought in. I always felt like the job was mine."

While the recruits were getting the publicity in Hawai'i, Tatum spent last summer in his hometown of Milwaukee. He worked out with players from the Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Marquette teams.

"It's rough and it's competitive," Tatum said. "You have to step up your game."

When Tatum returned to the UH campus in August, his improvement was immediately recognized.

As Wallace put it: "He got off that plane and never took a day off since."

Tatum beat out all the other candidates for the starting point guard spot, and was selected by his teammates as a co-captain along with Julian Sensley.

"He's stronger than the other guys, and he's real athletic," Wallace said of Tatum. "We use him at three positions (point guard, shooting guard and small forward), and he'd play all five if you asked him to."

But Tatum is still working at it.

After every practice, he stays an extra 30 minutes, working on his dribbling and jump shots.

"I work on stuff I might use in a game," he said. "That way when the game comes, it's just a reaction."

Tatum had 12 points and eight assists in a 67-57 victory over Santa Clara on Saturday. It was his fourth consecutive game with double-figure points. Last season, he never reached double-figures in any game.

When Tatum talks about his upbringing in Milwaukee, his willingness to take on challenges becomes less surprising.

His parents divorced when he was young, so Tatum grew up with his mother, two brothers and a sister. There were also cousins and friends to take care of in their three-bedroom home.

"There were 10 to 12 people in the house, some nights," Tatum said. "It brought us closer together, but you also had to fight for everything."

And it wasn't exactly the friendliest section of the city.

"Crime, drugs, shootings; it was around you all the time," he said. "It was definitely ghetto."

His mother, Stacia Tatum, worked two jobs to provide for the immediate and extended family. To this day, she cannot follow the Hawai'i games via the Internet because there is no computer in the house.

"The phone is like our home away from home," his mother said. "We'll call Deonte before every game and he calls us after the game."

Tatum's sanctuary while growing up was basketball. He would often turn down trips to the mall or the movies for a chance to play a pick-up game, according to his mother.

"Basketball was his everything," she said. "But it kept him out of trouble, so I always let him go and play."

As a young teenager, Tatum was good enough to make several AAU traveling teams.

"I got to see other cities, rich neighborhoods, see what it was like on the other side," he said. "That's why I always worked so hard on my game. I always felt like basketball was a way to get me out."

It eventually took him to Indian Hills Community College (Iowa), and then to Hawai'i.

During his struggles last season, Tatum said he thought about giving up and going home. But his upbringing and his family wouldn't allow it.

"Last year was an uncomfortable year," he said. "I remember talking to my family about it and they said I wouldn't be allowed back home if I quit. And that's not my style anyway. Once I start something, I'm going to finish."

Now, he wants this season to finish with a winning streak. Hawai'i is 14-9 entering this week's road games at Idaho on Wednesday and at San Jose State on Saturday.

"My main goal this year is to get to a postseason tournament," he said. "That's the only way to tell if I had a good year or not."

Wallace said the critics who would prefer to see Thompson or Waters in the starting lineup don't know enough about Tatum.

"I hear it all the time and I laugh at it," Wallace said. "Deonte has something the other guys don't have yet, and that's leadership. No matter how good or how bad he's playing or the team is playing, you never see (Tatum) drop his head. He plays hard all the time."

Tatum is even competitive off the court, according to his teammates.

"When we go to the arcade, I always beat him in the race car games and he always gets mad," Chris Botez said. "He wants to keep playing until he wins."

Tatum also wants to win in the classroom. He is on track to receive his sociology degree by December.

"In my immediate family, I'd be the first to do that," he said. "So I don't just want to help myself, I want to help my family."

By the end of his Hawai'i basketball stint, Tatum won't show up on any record-breaking lists. But Wallace said he should always be remembered.

"He's what you hope all your players are like," Wallace said. "He never pouted, never gave up. He just kept working to improve himself. I can't say enough about a player like that."

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.