A lot can be said about star ratings.

Thousands of fans (myself included) pour over recruiting rankings every off-season hoping that their school lands "the guy." Whether he’s the polished, poised, pre-established superstar, or the raw athlete whose rating is based solely on pure athleticism, everyone loves it when they see those stars pile up.

However, recruiting ratings are inherently flawed.

Sure, they can grade height and weight, mechanics and speed, strengths and weaknesses. They can give quantifiable values to qualitative properties but, for all the things they do, they can’t tell you about character. They can’t show you ambition. They leave out the heart and soul of the player… his drive. The part that’s being tested so much more than arm strength or accuracy when you’re down by a score with less than 5 minutes to go in the 4th . That burning in his gut that says I’m not ok with losing. Failure is never an option. I WILL NOT let this happen.

So what is the "Dak Effect?"

Some call it leadership, some call it charisma, but no matter what you call it, you know it when you see it. That calmness that comes over the person. The laser focus in their eyes. It’s that drive to always push themselves past their own ceiling and past the expectations other people have set for them. It’s not a question of can they rise up to the occasion. In their reality, they already have. They just need to adjust your reality so that you can see it too.

What’s most remarkable about this innate gift is that not only can everyone around this person see it, but they can feel it. They feel it so strongly that it becomes their reality as well. Its lifts everybody up around them; it drives them to play like 5 stars. It spreads like a wildfire, engulfing anyone around including those who are trying to stop it. But it can’t be stopped. It has become more than just one person, it’s become truth.