Since the first time he stepped on a court, K.J. McDaniels has made it his mission to stop the man in front of him from scoring.

It’s an attitude he adopted growing up in Birmingham, Alabama, where his father, a standout at South Alabama from 1989-91, instilled the importance of defense from an early age.

McDaniels was a late bloomer. Ranked by ESPN as the 35th-best player at his position as a senior in 2011, the 6’6” swingman was offered a scholarship to Clemson University. He spent most of his freshman season in a reserve role, but returned hungry and improved as a sophomore. He started 25 contests and ranked second on the team in scoring at 10.9 points per game, third in rebounds per game at 5.0, and led Tigers with 2.0 blocks per game, finishing second in the ACC in that category.

As a junior in 2013-14, he led Clemson in points (17.1), rebounds (7.1), blocks (2.8), steals (1.1), and three-pointers made (1.7) per game, earning First-Team All-ACC honors. His 2.8 blocks per game led the ACC and were the most by any perimeter player in the conference since 1997-98; he was named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year at season’s end.

With the Sixers, he’s looking to bring that same intensity on that end of the floor.

“My dad always told me that defense wins games, so when he told me that, I just kind of focused on defense as much as offense,” McDaniels told reporters. “[Teams aren’t] expecting a two guard to go block shots, but I feel like I've got to have my teammates' back, so I go out there and do whatever I need to."

Through three preseason games, he’s blocked six shots, four of which came against the Celtics on October 6. Offensively, he struggled to get into a rhythm early, but after going 4-for-15 from the floor and 0-for-4 from beyond the arc through the Sixers’ first two preseason games, McDaniels made five of the six shots he attempted against the Timberwolves on Friday and went 2-of-3 from deep.

Sixers head coach Brett Brown hopes to mold the 21-year-old into a “three-and-D” contributor, a player that earns minutes for his defensive capabilities but can provide floor spacing on the offensive end. He compared it to the role longtime Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich asked Bruce Bowen to play during his eight seasons in San Antonio; Brown was an assistant coach with the team at the time.

"For me, it's trying to put him in a lane that is very – you've heard me use the name Bruce Bowen before," said Brown. "We never put Bruce in pick-and-rolls, we never isolated him, watched him do stuff with the ball. It was making corner threes, from the skill package of catch-go, catch-shot, stuff from the [corners].

"And most importantly is guard your man, be tenacious defensively. And I think that that is in him. If he wants to know where his bread is buttered, that's where it is, on the defensive side."

With five preseason games left on the Sixers’ docket and two starting wing positions yet to be claimed, McDaniels will look to show that he can replicate the success he enjoyed at Clemson on the NBA stage. The Sixers travel to Syracuse, New York on Tuesday for neutral site meeting with the Knicks at 7pm.