Logan Schuss leads Ohio State lacrosse on and off the field

He's a three-time first team All-Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference honoree. He was named ECAC Rookie of the Year in 2010. He’s a three-time Ohio State Scholar-Athlete, made Academic All-ECAC and All-Big Ten for the third time this year and was named OSU’s offensive MVP in his freshman and sophomore seasons. This past season, he was named the conference’s Offensive Player of the Year. And to top things off, he makes a mean tuna sandwich.

Meet Logan Schuss, one of the captains of the OSU’s men’s lacrosse team. The junior attackman and physical education major from Ladner, British Columbia, has done just about everything possible in his three years at OSU, including inventing his own meal, “Logan’s Famous Tuna Sandwich.”

“That was a little bit of a joke,” he laughed, referring to his profile on OSU’s athletic website. “Growing up, one of my favorite things to eat was a tuna sandwich. I’ve always been a chef at home with my mom and my grandma in the kitchen.”

Since arriving in Columbus in 2009, Schuss has been cooking on the field, too. He’s started all 45 games the team has played in and made his mark by setting a freshman record of 31 goals scored in 2010,  leading the team in goals, assists (25) and points (56). He was rewarded with ECAC Rookie of the Year, first team All-ECAC, United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association honorable mention All-American and the team’s Offensive Player of the Year award.

“I didn’t want to set the bar too high for myself,” Schuss said of his freshman season. “I knew coming in that it would be a challenge. I had really small goals set in mind. I owe a lot to the seniors (from 2010) and to the seniors from this year, they really helped me get into the groove of things.”

Schuss kept the groove going in 2011 and avoided the proverbial “sophomore slump” by leading the team with 32 goals, 20 assists and 52 points. He once again earned first team All-ECAC honors and OSU’s Offensive Player of the Year.

As an upperclassman, he and coach Nick Myers thought it was time for him to step up into more of a leadership role, both on and off the field.

“What‘s been most impressive with Logan … is what he’s done off the field,” Myers said. “His ability to come down here (to OSU) and be a scholar athlete … he’s a 3.5 (GPA) student. We talk a lot about giving back and he’s one of the leaders of our team.”

As a freshman, he won the team’s community service award for logging the most community service hours. He said a lot of that time was spent back home in Ladner, making hampers with his grandfather and a group of his grandfather’s friends at a local food shelter.

“I was kind of like the muscle there,” he said, chuckling. “I had to do all the heavy lifting and organizing of the food. It was fun because I was doing it with my grandpa. He likes to give back and that’s probably where I get my community service heart from.”

Sophomore attackman Adam Trombley said he wasn't surprised when Schuss won the community service award. When sign-up sheets are posted for the team to volunteer their free time, Trombley said Schuss’ name is more often than not on a majority of the sheets. And it has an effect on most of the other guys on the team, too.

“You see one of the best players on your team and in the country doing this, and he can do this and why couldn’t I do this, and everyone follows what he does on and off the field,” Trombley said.

Schuss said assistant coach Dave Dobbins is responsible for getting the team involved in different community service projects throughout Columbus, including reading to local elementary school kids and visiting the Columbus Ronald McDonald House, which provides families of seriously ill children with a place to stay near Nationwide Children's Hospital.

“I like to help out little kids,” Schuss said. “I just like being around people and making them happy and giving back as much as I can.”

Schuss said he thinks he can still do a better job of being a leader. But Trombley said he thinks Schuss’ leadership speaks for itself and said Schuss always offers constructive criticism and positive feedback, rather than being “someone who yells at you.”

“He’s one of the best (players) in the country and he could be cocky, but he’s not,” Trombley said. “He can tend to get a little upset, though, after losing in a game of NHL 2012 on the Xbox 360.

Me and Shawn (Kaplan) will play against him and Steve (Knezick), and I believe we have more wins than they do right now. In fact, I think I remember beating them, 15-0, one time.”