Before taking the cash grab that DePaul desperately tossed his way, Oliver Purnell could be considered nothing short of a turnaround wizard. He was the one that made Dayton something that mattered so that Brian Gregory could succeed there. He created success, excitement and even expectations at Clemson.

Clemson had to replace Purnell, and it sure looked at the time like they got a good one from the mid-majors ranks in Brad Brownell. Plucked from Wright State, Brownell made his name at UNC-Wilmington as an assistant and head coach there. He had turned down other jobs before taking Clemson. A guy familiar with recruiting in the Carolinas and in the ACC footprint. Considered a very good Xs-and-Os coach. Clemson looked like a program ready to build on its success.

But it hadn’t worked out that way in the first three years. Diminishing returns each year, and very low expectations this year — picked to finish 14th in the 15-team ACC.

A funny thing has happened. Clemson is a pretty good team this year.

Conference record: 4-1 in ACC, tied for second in the loss column – not bad after being picked to finish 14th out of 15 in the preseason. Best win: Beat Duke 72-59. After some tough sledding the past two seasons, Brad Brownell probably has the best team in his four-year tenure. The Tigers lead the nation in fewest points allowed and effective field-goal percentage defense, clamping down on perimeter shooters and relying on sophomore center Landry Nnoko to protect the rim. “Defensively,” said Pitt coach Jamie Dixon on Monday, “they’re as sound as they can be.” But now comes the hard part: five road games in the next six, with trips to Pitt, North Carolina, Florida State, Syracuse and Notre Dame. If Clemson is still a contender after that, give Brownell ACC Coach of the Year on the spot.

The Tigers are led by K.J. McDaniels.

It took only minutes to notice the athleticism of McDaniels, a 6-foot-6 junior swingman who has made four appearances on ESPN’s Top Plays with highlight-reel dunks and blocked shots.

That’s nothing new for opposing coaches, even though McDaniels leads the Tigers in scoring (16.7), rebounding (7.2) and ranks first in the ACC with 48 blocked shots, an average of 2.8 per game.

McDaniels has been a pivotal player for Clemson (13-4, 4-1 ACC), which plays No. 20 Pitt (16-2, 4-1) at 8 p.m. Tuesday at Petersen Events Center.

“He’s a special player,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. “He’s one of the better players in the country most people don’t know a lot about because he’s really kind of come into his own this year.”

After averaging 10.9 points and five rebounds last season, McDaniels is coming off his fourth double-double of the season: a 15-point, 12-rebound, four-block effort against Wake Forest. McDaniels has three 20-point, 10-rebound games this season, but his defense sets him apart: He has blocked at least one shot in nine consecutive games.

“He’s going after ’em,” Dixon said. “It does speak to his aggressiveness, as well as his athleticism. He’s doing a lot of good things and is a really good player who’s getting better over his career.”

Maybe not with the blocked shots, but McDaniels is exactly the type of player I would love to see Durand Johnson or even Jamel Artis become (and had hoped J.J. Moore would be). Tremendous athlete. Uses the 3-point shot, but does a lot more attacking the basket and getting after it on defense.

You start to look at this team, and there seem to be a lot of similarities between Pitt and Clemson. Especially in style.

Clemson, like Pitt, values getting stops and rebounding, and the Tigers are among the leaders in the ACC in several defensive categories.

They also have some younger players who are developing offensively.

He also said stopping the Panthers is going to be a challenge for his team because they do such a great job of passing the ball, finding an open man and getting good shots.

“I have a lot of respect for Jamie [Dixon],” Brownell said. “Their style of play is similar to ours. We both try to defend. Their rebounding is very good, their passing is just unbelievable when you start looking at their stats and their assists-to-turnovers ratio, it is special.

“They are one of the elite passing teams in the country, they are unselfish but somehow, some way you have to eliminate some of those easy baskets. That is difficult to do because they don’t turn the ball over much, they run good stuff and run their offense.”

That is one of the few differences. They don’t pass and share the ball the same way Pitt does. Their turnovers are a shade higher per/game, but they don’t come close on assists. They are just below 1:1 on A/TO. They are a team with a slower tempo than Pitt. Their defense may be as good as Pitt’s, but they don’t quite have the offensive efficiency.

This is looking to be a tougher game than thought at the beginning of the season. Heck, it seems like a tougher game than I thought it would be last week.