How to set default value in Kendo DropDownList

I have a Kendo DropDownList, but strangely enough I can not set its initial value.

Html.Kendo().DropDownList()
    .Name("PersonalCoachName")
    .BindTo(new SelectList((List<string>)ViewData["coachResources"]))
    .HtmlAttributes(new { style = "font-size:8pt;" })

ViewData["coachResources"] is a List of string type. Regardless I use

.BindTo(new SelectList((List<string>)ViewData["coachResources"], "Default"))
or 
.SelectedIndex(3)

DropDownList does not change it value and only display the 1st value in the list. I need help on this. Thanks.

Use the Value-method. See example code below.

@(Html.Kendo().DropDownList()
      .Name("DropDownListName")
      .DataTextField("Text")
      .DataValueField("Value")
      .BindTo(model.DropDownListItems)
      .Value(model.Selected)
      )

EDIT: DropDownList needs to be bind to List<SelectListItem> and it can be initialized as seen below.

var items = new List<SelectListItem>
{
    new SelectListItem { Text = "Item0", Value = "0" }, 
    new SelectListItem { Text = "Item1", Value = "1" } 
};

In addition, I would recommend to use MVVM to attach it to view.

public class DropDownViewModel
{
    public String Selected;
    public List<SelectListItem> DropDownListItems;

    public DropDownViewModel(String selected, List<SelectListItem> dropDownListItems)
    {
        Selected = selected;
        DropDownListItems = dropDownListItems;
    }
}