“I always believed and trusted that he has that leader in him and he was really able to showcase that this year,” said his head coach and most ardent supporter, Darko Rajakovic. “[We’ve had] a lot of conversations [about] how he needs to talk to his teammates, how he needs to lead, what kind of example he needs to set. This whole season he was always the hardest playing player in every practice we had. He was always the one setting the tone for everybody and that’s something that I do not take lightly, and I really appreciated.”