“After my Clippers workout, I just had this feeling that this was a place where I could be. This sounds crazy, but after I got the call tonight, I looked at what I was wearing and realized I was wearing Clippers colors. It’s definitely a sign from God."

Dawson could have been aided by the emergence of Draymond Green for the Golden State Warriors, Green's development into one of the premiere defenders in the NBA may have given teams hope of the same for Dawson.

“The biggest thing is his toughness,” said general manager Dave Wohl on NBA.com. “He’s a winner.

“Some of the things he does on the court you can’t teach. It’s just innate effort and competitiveness and toughness. Those are things that we think are skills that are going to blend in with what we want to do.”

Assistant general manager for the Clippers Gary Sacks sees Dawson as a guy that can guard multiple positions, a skill that will give him a good chance at making the team.

“He’s willing to take on a challenge 1-on-1,” Sacks said. “If you tell him to go guard a guy, doesn’t matter what size, I think he can guard threes, fours, even some twos. The other thing I love about him is he fits in well with the scheme.

“He’s not the biggest guy in the world, but he’s the leading shot blocker in school history. That tells you something. He goes after everything.”

The Clippers are loaded with shooters and if Dawson can be the versatile defender they hope he can be, he should have an opportunity to carve out a role on a contender.

MSU men's basketball head coach Tom Izzo was excited for Dawson getting to realize his dream of making it to the NBA.

"He’ll have the opportunity to play for one of the best coaches in the NBA, and being the Clippers’ only draft pick is certainly a plus," Izzo said in the press release. "Branden had a very good career at Michigan State. He overcame three major injuries, graduated, won Big Ten titles and played in a Final Four. He kept working and improving, and tonight his dream of reaching the NBA came true.”