S3 E27. The Whiz: Tewaaraton Winner, PLL All Star, & Brown O.C. Logan Wisnauskas, Part II.

In this episode of Get the Lax Scoop, hosts Big Dawg and Jaybird sit down with lacrosse star Logan Wisnauskas, a two-time PLL All-Star, 2022 National Champ, and a Tewaaraton Award winner. From his early days at Brown to achieving national acclaim at Maryland, Logan shares insights into his journey, the importance of hard work, and the valuable mentors who shaped his career. The discussion covers his collegiate achievements, his transition to professional lacrosse, and the challenges and triumphs of playing in the PLL. Logan emphasizes the significance of earning opportunities, mentoring future generations, and the evolving dynamics of the game. The episode concludes with a teaser about the Outlaws' successful season and their playoff aspirations.

00:00 Introduction to Get the Lax Scoop

00:23 Meet the Hosts and Guest

00:59 Welcome to Another Episode

01:09 Interview with Logan Wisnauskas Begins

01:47 Logan's College Journey

03:05 High School Challenges and Mentors

05:53 Influential Coaches and Transition to College

08:50 Recruitment and College Experience

11:55 Transition to Professional Lacrosse

16:30 The Right Mindset for Success

26:35 Conclusion and Teaser for Next Episode

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Inside the Recruiting Game: Insights From College Lacrosse Coaches
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Donate to Harlem Lacrosse Summer Camp:

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Links to training videos:
Master The 5 Best Dodges From the Wing!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_7LDOcQQ6Q&t=88s

Blazing Shots... on the Run!
https://youtu.be/XiptPlM63oQ

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Check out!... Coach Tintle's Lacrosse Barn:

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SuccessHotline with Dr. Rob Gilbert on Ironclad & Apple Podcasts

Brian Cain Daily Dominator on Apple Podcasts

Lacrosse Charities Mentioned in S2 E36:
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https://www.harlemlacrosse.org/

https://15forlife.org/

Transcript

0:00

It's time for Get the Lack Scoop, a podcast bringing you all the people and stuff you should know in the game of lacrosse. We take lack seriously, but ourselves, not so much. Join host Big Dog and Jaybird and the biggest names in the game brought to you by Jay McMahon lacrosse. That's JML skills, mindset, and lacks IQ training. Ron Doglish, the big dog, was a collegiate football and lacrosse player at Brown. He was also an assistant lacrosse coach and the executive director of the Sports Foundation. And Jay McMahon, the Jaybird, a three time All American midfielder at Brown. He was the captain of the U. S. Junior National Team and is the founder of JML. And Joining us in the studio, Steve Grisolfi, who's collegiate lacrosse career statistics equals one goal against Dartmouth brought to you by Jay McMahon lacrosse. That's JML skills, mindset, and lacks IQ training, helping the next generation of lacrosse players get to the next level well, lacrosse fans, welcome to another episode of Get the Lack Scoop. We're in the dog days of summer here. Jay, which for lacrosse fans means the PLL season. rbo, you are correct, sir, and we are delighted to bring you part two of our interview series with two time PLL All star to Warton Award winner and offensive coordinator at Brown Logan Wasowski. If you have not heard episode one, we highly recommend you go back and give it a listen as it lays a mighty foundation for what is to follow. If you like what you're hearing, we ask you to please subscribe to the show and share it with a friend. It really supports what we do. Now you will find this interview picking up right where we left off last time. Enjoy. We were kind of, crowned as, as National Championship champions, I guess that year in 2014, super special. Oh, that's right. I saw that. Yeah. Going undefeated. playing with those guys, learning a lot, from those guys in front of me. And then kind of, moving into to kind of junior year, being able to kind of step on the field and, and play a little more. And then kind of moving into my senior year, with going in through the coaching change of, coach Shriver kind of retiring, oh, Shriver retired. Yeah. What whatcha talking about Coach Shriver? He, he was one of my coaches on the U 19, USA team. Oh, was he? Yeah. So went on a trip. Great. Go Moga. Oh yeah. Jim. S Jay. Jay Jay. Get it over to Garth, get it to gar you and Towers. Never give Garth a ball. Too many Christmas, right? Yeah. Pace of work. Yeah. Once he, kind of, you know, retired after my junior year and then coach Ferrell stepping in, who's, still kind of talked to him to this day. he was awesome. Kind of, you know, being there for his first year, kind of, you know, being there to help him out. he is freaking awesome dude. Awesome coach. the rest of the staff as well. I can, echo that, but, it was an awesome experience and one that I would definitely, definitely live over again if I could. Nice. Logan, one thing I just wanna, I just want to note, and Jay and I have talked about this before. All kidding aside, obviously Jay played at Garden City, was a tremendous high school program. Uh, hearing your story and knowing the kind of player you were in college and you are today in the pros, JV is a freshman. Didn't sound like you saw a lot of go as a sophomore, right. Seeing the field as a junior and then like kids today just think if they're not playing on varsity as a freshman, the world's over. And that, that sense of working your way. Towards that achievement over time is just, seems like something that gets so lost today. But yet player after player like you, who's elevated to the highest level, Hey man, player of the year, you gotta, you gotta work your way up. Especially in great programs, right? same thing freshman never made varsity at St. Mary's and you were lucky to find the field as a sophomore,'cause you had to, you had to earn your way through some great players to get on the field, Right, right. No doubt. And Dylan Malloy being I mean, it doesn't say much for your team if you're the best player in the team in 10th grade, I mean, you got, let's say, Logan's behind Pat Spencer, Yeah. You're not, you're not putting him on the bench. Right. I mean, it's it's crazy. Yeah, I agree. you paid your dues and then you, it became an all time great. Exactly. It's at the end of the day, it's if you like where you are, work hard, if you don't like where you are, make sure you're working hard. And the, that freshman, sophomore year, you hit the nail on the head. It's like I didn't really, play too much. Yeah. I was playing kind of in the summer with the crabs, but, kind of emphasizing working hard and, and realizing that, my time's gonna gonna come, uh, which it did kind of junior and senior year, which I'm, forever grateful for, for, coach Iver and coach, coach Ferrell kind of, believe in me and kind of having me out on the field. That's great. All right. Logan, in your high school days, who was your toughest matchup? Do you remember a guy that really you just fricking battled with? Uh, defender? Anybody come to mind? That's a good question. it's nobody could cover me. hey, truth is truth. If that's just the reality. I'll have to think about that one and get back to you. All right. All right, Ville. I know BU was a mid, but where did he play? in high school, he was at Mount St. Joe. So were there any offensive guys you dod with that you were I'm playing costume, be looking, or I'm playing somebody and being all right, I gotta outdoor this guy. Yeah, Brian was a good one. I mean, you could kind of go down the list of every team kind of in the MIA of guys that they had, kind of Loyola Cole Williams at the time who played at Hopkins, McDonough who had, Jackson Mor, who I played with at Crabs. Right, right. Who went to Yale. you can kind of go, down the list and kind of, who's who kind of Right. Back then. Yeah. Remember Cole Williams was a big, big gun for Hopkins. Yeah. Yeah. And then, the next thing we were wanted to talk about was just the people who you mentioned Coach Shriver and Coach Ferrell, but you're in this kind of pivotal time in your life at Boys Ladin while you're in high school and you're, you're playing travel. you mentioned you had some great coaches with the crabs who were the, who were people who were just really influential with you, who kept you kind of on track and didn't let you get. Negative if you're not getting tons of playing time as a sophomore and getting in the mix as a junior. Like who were some of the most influential people in your life? I'm sure your, your dad's one of them, but go ahead and tell us, uh, who the, were the most important people to you getting through those high school years. Yeah, I'd definitely say number one, my dad, kinda like you mentioned, and, and then kind of number two is, kind of Coach Ferrell. he was just kind of awesome mentor to have, kind of growing up and, being a captain for his team. and just kind of being there for his first year, was, was truly special. and then kind of, once I was at Syracuse, I remember reaching out to him just like, Hey man, like I don't think this is the place for me. I, I kind of want to, explore my options and, just, him being an All American in Maryland, I was like, I, I wouldn't mind, moving home and playing for the home state. there's just something about, playing for your home state and, running, running out the, of the tunnel behind that flag and, just kind of reaching out to him. And he is like, yeah, absolutely. Like, I'll make a call no problem. And, within, 15, 20 minutes, he's like, yeah, like, sounds good. And so, uh, I would definitely say him. And then, another very influential guy that, I, I had forever in debt too, is, uh, a guy by the name of Lois Scharf. he was, one of the guys that, kind of, I guess quote unquote like broke me and, he was kind of the acting like strength and conditioning coach and, he kind of, busted our asses like multiple times. Mm-hmm. There was, there were times where, he was like, all right, we're gonna run the cross country course and like cross country course. Like I, I played football, like why? Right? How are we doing cross country? And he'd like, run it with us and we'd be out on trails and he is like, drop, drop down. Like, we're doing burpees now. We're like in the middle of the woods. All we're doing burpees. Like, but kind of, looking back at those days and just, remembering those workouts, it was, something that, I kind of, still kind of remember of. Awesome memories and just those, remembering those times made me into, what I am and the, the person, the player, that I am today were, truly special. I remember others that just kind of popped in mind. Uh, I remember pushing up his, his car, it was up the hill at, at bl just pushing, pushing his car up the hill. really melting snow. And I remember he didn't have the car in neutral and we were just we weren't pushing it going anywhere. And the brake lights are on and we're we're not going anywhere. And he is yeah, just keep pushing. it's fine. And we're oh, why are we doing this? But you look at, look back at it now, and you you realize and you understand. It was that was, that was some awesome, life lessons that we learned there. Gotcha. Just really taught you how to train hard and push yourself and, and dig deep and all that good stuff. Yeah. That's great. And. I did wanna get into a little bit the general recruiting process for you. So what age did it start for you back then and, and tell us, uh, how things worked out. Yeah. It was way too early back then. Right. Uh, I remember I hadn't even, played my freshman year, a, a practice in high school and I was already committed to Syracuse. Wow. I committed, I think my freshman year and my fall. Wow. Freshman year you visited, visited some schools? Yeah, I visited, I took a couple visits, and, and kind of realized that, you know, Syracuse was kind of what I wanted to do at the time. And then looking back on it, it's like I'm, I'm so glad that, you know, it's nine one of your junior year.'cause there's no way that, eighth graders, freshmen and sophomores should be committing at that time. And it's looking back on it, I didn't even know what I wanted for lunch that day. And it's why? Right. why are guys making, four 40 year decisions at, at that point in time? Um, as opposed to, the, the nine one, the junior date start, as you're kind of. A couple years older and wiser and kind of, understand, and you've kind of gone through many more life lessons through, you know, freshman and sophomore year. But, um, you know, I, I committed my, freshman year and, I held that commitment of, to Syracuse, you know, kind of all the way through. Mm-hmm. But yeah, it was, and what was it like once you got to Syracuse? I, I liked it. I, I made friends that, that will last me a lifetime. I, I still keep in contact with those guys, you know, a couple of'em are still, um, or college coaches that I'll see on the sideline all the time. Um, mm-hmm. I, I liked my time there. Um, if, if I loved it, I, I would've stuck it out for, 4, 5, 6 years, whatever the case may be. But, I just, I kind of realized that, it wasn't the place for me and, you know, I just kind of wanted a change and, I just kind of came home after, after my, um, freshman year and I was just like mom and dad, like, I, I want to go somewhere else, kind of try something else. Right. And I kind of went to Maryland and, played five years there and, I, I don't have any regrets looking back at it. Right. And then were you saying that you learned some more discipline though as far as, uh, weightlifting or things like that at Syracuse? Was that. Yeah, no, absolutely. I, I redshirted there. So you look at red shirts and, sometimes they have that mentality of oh, I'm redshirt, and yeah, I'll just wait for next year. it, it's fine. But mm-hmm. I kind of, took the mindset of all right, I'm gonna learn, how to be a college lacrosse player. Like, I'm gonna, prep as if, I'm playing on Saturday. Right. I'm right. Get getting my ass beat by, the, the starting defense is the, the scout team. I'm, I'm giving it my, all against those guys and I'm like, I, I want to get better, right? I, I want to be able to, play on Saturdays in, in the coming years and, kind of, you know, show the glory, like be in the, kind of the glory under the lights. So, I took that year as I'm gonna work hard in the darkness and then make sure that, when the lights turn on in, years, years to come, that I'm one of the ones out there and I'm not taking this year off so that, I just wait for next year and then next year comes and I'm oh, I'm not ready now. I need to get ready. So I was just making sure that, I was staying ready for, whatever it was to come. That's great. You definitely hit the ground running at Maryland. Yeah, so, so Logan Jay likes to write some questions that are, are novels. And so you're gonna have to, it's really, you're gonna have to, Jay, I'll read the question. Thank you. Uh, I just wanna prepare Logan, that if you need to take a bathroom break, if you wanna, take another drink. This is gonna be a while. Um, but I think I'm ready. As, as Jay said, this next question is gonna rehash some history. Um, Jay thinks you should stay with it'cause there's some big payoff at the end. That's how he's setting this question up for me. Okay, Logan, uh, let's stick with it. Now we've read that during that 2018 red shirt freshman year, you had one, uh, you had one of the best statistical seasons. WW or a freshman. I mean, what's wrong with you? I'll read it. We've read that it during 28. This doesn't make any sense, Jay. It does had one of the best statistical seasons for a freshman ever. I just started on attack on a Maryland team that would make it to the final four in 2019. You guys lost a UVA in the quarters in OT and you had another stellar season making All American. Then in 2021 as a senior, you guys go undefeated in the regular season and the playoffs until losing the UVA in the finals 1716 at one of the best games and best finals of all time, which is a fact in which you had five. That was, that was a hell of a game. I was at that game. That was sick. Yeah, that was amazing. And then it was funny'cause Logan had been a counselor for my son Luke, at a Mark Millen camp, and he was I didn't know he was that good. Well, you just saw him at Camp Luke, I don't know. Oh, I love working those things. He was in like seventh grade or something. But anyway, that was an amazing performance and a hell of a game and all that sets up one of the best seasons of any team all time. And then for yourself, one of the best individual performances, as you guys run the table, you win the ton award, the national title and set the University of Maryland Terrapins all time goals. End points record. And Ron, you can finish it off. So there is a question now. There it is. Um, we gotta ask you, because none of us here, and most likely, none of our audiences out there would've any idea how a season like that feels. You know, I mean, the reality is very few athletes get to experience all of what Jay just described that you had in that senior year. So, you know, what, what were the, what are the, the big. Feelings that you take away from that, that season? You know, is there the sense of vindication, of, of, you know, getting over the top and winning the championship, all those accomplishments. What, what are your big takeaways? What was it like going through that? I think my one word I think to, sum all that up is just gratitude. Right? It's, I remember just like, in 2017, just like kind of sitting in my locker in the carrier dome, just kind of, wondering if I'm ever gonna kind of play on the, college lacrosse stage and, kind of fast forward a year later, coach Tillman, taking a chance on me, not guaranteeing, not guaranteeing me anything, kind of coming to College Park. And, kind of having to work for, everything that was kind of, in front of me. being able to, put the Maryland jersey on, was, something truly special. And something that with every game that came. I was ready to kind of, put it all out there and just, as, a little kid. And I remember growing up that we kind of talked about before with that was playing with my dad, in the backyard, just, trying to make that kid proud. that's kind of what I tried to do, kind of, from, from 2018 all the way to, 2022, which, saying it out seems like a long time, but, it goes by quick. Um, but mm-hmm. I, I enjoyed, every single moment of it. Um, just kind of, ending it the way that we did was, truly special. Um, I can honestly say that it was, it was one of the three best days of my life, right? With the two to come being, one being a wedding and then the next being my, my firstborn. Um mm-hmm. it was the, the best day of my life. Um, just. Working so hard for that. Um, being able to, hoist that plaque with, 49 of your, your, your best friends, kind of right there with you in a, in a d sweaty dog pile. Um, and then just kind of the embraces the hugs with, coach coaching staff, um, kind of all your friends, just like, we put in the work, like we did this, like we did this together. How about if we, how about if we transition to. J m l and let's do that. What Logan Wiska just said was so powerful and it is so important. I wanna reiterate it right here, right now. When Logan was recruited to the University of Maryland, coach John Tillman didn't promise him anything. No guaranteed playing time, no special treatment. What he got was an opportunity. An opportunity to show up, compete, and earn his spot. And you know what happened? That mindset. Focusing on earning, not demanding, led to Logan working his rear end off winning the Ton Award and the National Championship in 2022. Now, contrast that with what we see far too often today. Many players want guarantees before they even step on the field. They demand playing time. They demand NIL deals. But here's the reality. When you start your college career expecting everything to be handed to you. You're setting yourself up for a short run. The players who make it far, the ones who become champions, show up hungry. They embrace competition. They know nothing is given, and that's exactly why they work so hard to take it. So here's the takeaway. The right mindset is to earn everything. Don't ask, what will you give me? Ask, what can I do to prove I belong here? Which totally coincides with a phrase often used by another two time national championship coach and two time guest on the show, Lars, Tiffany, expect nothing. Earn everything. Because the truth is the players who keep that attitude, not just in college but in life, are the ones who not only make it to the top, they stay there. Like Logan, be the kind of player who says. Give me the chance and I'll do the rest. This type of player comes with their own guardrails while the others have none. Speaking of no guardrails that so many of our listeners describe the college lacrosse recruiting trail. So we've responded by putting excerpts of our 10 best interviews with legendary coaches, such as bill Tierney, Lars, Tiffany and Andy towers. Into a book that you can access on Kindle, it is available on Amazon, under the title inside the recruiting game insights from college lacrosse coaches. You will find a link to the book in our show notes. Now we will return to our interview and you will find that interview in progress. Um, it's, it was awesome and, it was awesome to kind of leave College Park, having, won a, won a ring. Um, that was definitely something that I wanted to do. Kind of, growing up since. We mentioned before that, my dad won the, won a ring for 94 and, kind of a, a fun fact he won the national championship, in College Park. So, uh, wow, that's awesome. Yes, it definitely, very special. Um, I remember the fall of 22 when we kind of went back, for alumni weekend and, and we got our rings. Um, we, we got a picture, on the, on the m and we, we both were kind of, knuckling, holding our rings together. Um, that's beautiful. Kind of the, the father-son combo. Um, just kind of to, to wrap it all up. So, um, I'm forever eternally grateful for, coach Tillman, coach Reppert at the time, taking a chance on me, coach, coach Bernhardt, um, and then coach, Benson coming along. you know, just e eternally grateful for those guys for, giving me the opportunity to, to be able to play and, kind of, kind of wear that jersey across my chest. That's great. That's amazing. And, yeah, and you definitely couldn't take it for granted, right? It's like you guys did blow just about everybody out, that year, but still, you know, you don't know until that last whistle sounds and the, the championship game's over that you won and that was just phenomenal. And, uh, you mentioned Coach Tillman. I mean, he's obviously an amazing coach. And so were you thinking about, when did you first start thinking about picking up the coaching profession yourself? Was that when you were in high school, or were you starting to think about it right there in college and, and who were your biggest influences on becoming a coach? Yeah, I kind of always had it in the back of my mind, like with my dad, like dad coaching me kind of growing up. It was like, I've had so many, like good mentors, over the years, just kind of, pay me, their kind of knowledge. And it was always just kind of in the back of my mind was like, I had so many great coaches, the, our offensive coordinator at, at bl like Coach Ubco, those dudes of the world. Like I had so many great mentors that, taught me so much. Mm-hmm. And you, I just, I, I felt as if I would be in debt one day if I didn't kind of pass that knowledge forward. And so I, I've kind of always had that in the back of my mind and, just, I'm so thankful for, coach Tope for giving me that opportunity, in the, the summer of 2022, hiring me. Mm-hmm. after I graduated from Maryland and, kind of the, the rest is history from there, just being on his staff. But, I've kind of always had it in the back of my mind just, being in the cross. Like, I, I never really wanted a, wanted a desk job or anything from nine to five. Like, I, I can't really, sit at a desk for that long. mm-hmm. I gotcha. I'm, I'm grateful to still be in the sport, being able to coach and being able to play at the same time as well. Right. Yeah, I remember that offense, that kind of positionless offense that Coach Bobby Benson ran was really amazing. Did he, I'm just, did he run that at Hopkins too? It seemed different. I mean, you guys were like an absolute machine really for two years. 2021 and 2022. So tell, tell me about that. I think it was just a combination of just a bunch of selfless players, right? It's, you have, the Kyle Longs of the world, Anthony DEOs, that, were starting the party and, they're dodging down the alley and they're, they're throwing the ball through X right? And they, they get it to the backside. And then we, that's where we have, a a lot of good stuff. You have, 2022, Jonathan Donville, who's, the number one NLL pick in the right guy for a reason, right? And we got him out of the portal from Cornell. He was an integral part of the, of that, that team as well. Right. And then, yeah, you have Keegan Khan, from Villanova that comes in and just, selfless players of Yeah, whatever the team needs, right? I just wanna win. So, had a lot of those guys and, it was just, awesome kind of being around, just nothing but selfless players and, and selfless individuals, selfless human beings. Right. Gotcha. So it was a great combination, same offense, different players.'cause it made it look, you guys were just amazing and the, the ball was just always moving. So it was really cool to watch. And then, so let's see. Ron, did we have, well Jay, I'm gonna, I'm gonna pick up where you got lost again. So you go right ahead. so let's feel free, Ron, that's that summer of 2022, pretty cool time for you. You're the, you, you mentioned that Coach Tope, hired you, to be with'em at High Point. And you're also the number one overall pick in the PLL draft in that season. And you, next you're selected to an All-star. So, what was it like transitioning from all those highs you just talked about in the end of your college career and plus a situation where, you're practicing every day to the PLL, where it's a much different dynamic, obviously an incredibly high level, but you're, you're working and, trying to, to compete on the field, there's limited practices. So tell us what that transition was like from college to pro. I mean, yeah, at first we touched on it before it was just finding a schedule that works for me, right? Finding a regimen. And you're doing it on your own, right? Because you're not with a team all that much, right? No. You're with them, two, maybe three days a week. And it's not like college where you have your, your team lifts, you have, team film, all that stuff. It's, you're on your own in the PLL, right? You gotta show up in shape, right? You gotta make sure you're watching your film. make sure you're stick styled. so it was just making sure that, I had a, a schedule of, what I wanted to do when I wanted to get my lifts so that, I was ready come, practice time and, and come game time. it, it took me kind of, you know, a week or two to get my, my feet under me just from, going from the championship, to that first week, in Albany, right into the lineup against the archers. it was, it was fast, it was a really fast game, with, with the shot clock at, at 52, you get the ball and it's the, that clock's over, snap of a finger. just getting that game under my belt and then kind of, you know, going, going from there and just kind of, you know, learning from the older guys and just bouncing ideas off those guys of, what, what do they do to, be successful throughout the week and, taking it from there with the, just the speed of play, just accelerated that much more. When you get to the pros, it's same game, but it's going faster. Yeah, I mean, you kind of see that from middle school to high school, right? High school to college. Yeah. you come home and it's like, whoa, that was really fast. And it's guys are even more so college to pro is bigger, faster, stronger, and just kind of, putting in the work like, you know, even more so like you're doing in college, making sure that you're getting bigger, faster, stronger as well to, kind of, hold up your end of the bargain in the, uh, in the PLL. Gotcha. So, Logan, you, you get off to a hell of a start in the PLL two time All Star, and then, you have a little setback, uh, in 2024, we know missing that season. But flash forward, uh, to this year, you're playing with the Outlaws, uh, on a team with four to Wharton Award winners. All on the offensive side of the field. I mean, that's, that's ridiculous. And, uh, so you got you and Brennan O'Neill and Matt Kavanaugh on the attack, and then just for, just for shits and giggles, as they say, you got Jared Bernhardt coming outta the, outta the box. I would not like to be defending that offense. And not surprisingly, with that talent, you guys are on a roll, six in two in first place. You earn the first playoff spot this past week. You're playing uh, on a, b, c, um, on Saturdays, which I'm sure is gonna be a lot of fun. Pretty exciting to play on that kind of nationally televised game. So tell us about how this team's come together The team has come together in a big, big way! Heading straight to the PLL playoffs like a runaway train. To find out how it happened, tune in next week. Until we meet again. Here's to hoping you find the twine. We're signing off here at the get the lax scoop. Thanks again so much. We will see you the next time.