Ohio State men’s lacrosse senior attacker Logan Schuss has one more year, one more chance to do what he’s done for the past three seasons. The British Columbian has led the Buckeyes in many ways during his illustrious four-year career.
Last year’s Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Offensive Player of the Year, Schuss has been a standout since first stepping foot on campus in Columbus.
In his freshman campaign, Schuss garnered honorable mention All-American honors, on top of his ECAC Rookie of the Year award and first team All-ECAC status.
He has lead the Buckeyes in goals in each of his first three seasons.
Recruited by coach Nick Myers from the beginning of high school, Schuss took the risk of heading to a foreign environment to play for OSU, but he said he’s never doubted the decision.
“I had the opportunity to have coach Myers come and see me play and we started talking,” Schuss said. “We just saw all the stars line up and I got the chance to come here and play.”
As one of the primary recruiters going after Schuss, Myers recalls being impressed by the Canadian’s talent as he watched Schuss grow as a player and a person over a span of almost eight years.
“It’s been a great deal of growth,” Myers said. “Logan was a young man that we recruited and I can remember seeing him play for the first time when he was a ninth grader.”
Voted a captain by his teammates for this season, Schuss sets an example for his teammates on and off the field.
Assistant coach Dave Dobbins said Schuss is a positive influence on the younger players.
“We expect a lot out of him, he’s a senior and a captain for us,” Dobbins said. “His responsibilities go way beyond just scoring goals and making assists. He’s what makes the team tick a lot of times.”
The success and accolades haven’t gone to Schuss’ head, though, and fellow captain, senior midfielder Dominique Alexander, said Schuss remains very much the person he was when he first came to OSU.
“He’s become more of a leader. Overall he hasn’t changed much. He’s still running around yelling at practice, you come around and hear him yelling, getting guys pumped up,” Alexander said. “Logan’s definitely going out with a chip on his shoulder, where he doesn’t want it to be something he looks back on as, ‘I didn’t do my job.'”
Dobbins said Schuss’ mentality of not wanting to let down his teammates makes him work harder at practice and show a work ethic seen in few players his age.
“He’s a guy that goes out there to practice every day with the right approach,” Dobbins said. “He’s not a guy who always leads with his voice, but leads by example. He’s one of the hardest working guys out there.”
The future looks bright for Schuss, who was drafted recently by the Ohio Machine along with Alexander and senior midfielder Kevin Mack, but Schuss said he isn’t letting anything distract him from giving the game his all in his time left at OSU.
“I try not to think about the whole ‘getting drafted’ part of it,” Schuss said. “I want to focus on the Buckeyes and being a leader.”
As a three-time OSU Scholar Athlete majoring in physical education, Schuss said his future isn’t just squared on lacrosse. He said he sees his career taking him toward a different leadership role.
“I’m going to be coming back for a fifth year to do my student teaching,” Schuss said. “I’m going to one day, hopefully, be a P.E. teacher.”
In the season opener against Detroit Saturday, Schuss tallied a career-high 10 points. In fact, he has totaled least a point in all 46 of his career games.
“On the field, he’s a competitor. He’s very talented. Aside from the talent is a work ethic that his teammates and the younger guys can feed off of,” Myers said.
Schuss and the Buckeyes are scheduled to take on Jacksonville Sunday at 3:15 p.m. in Jacksonville, Fla.