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ot long before Ohio State attackman Tre Leclaire seemingly came out of nowhere a year ago by unleashing that vicious, accurate shot that left marks on the Division I world and lifted the Buckeyes to historic heights, Leclaire was a relative unknown even among his own kind in the far western Canadian province of British Columbia.

Fellow B.C. native Logan Schuss, a 2013 graduate of Ohio State and its all-time leading goal scorer, first caught a glimpse of Leclaire several years ago.

As an assistant coach with the Delta Islanders, which competes in the elite B.C. Junior A league, Schuss was struck by this tall, strapping kid from Surrey during a club tryout. Leclaire was 16. He immediately stood out, and not just as a sure bet to join the intermediate team of box players aged 17-18.

“[Leclaire] didn’t look like a typical, young Canadian. He was built like an American,” said Schuss, recalling how Leclaire was rounding into his currently chiseled, 6-foot-2, 212-pound frame. “I watched him with that cannon of a shot. From 15 to 17 yards out, the goalies had trouble seeing it. I knew we had to move him up quickly.”

Leclaire thus became the youngest member of Delta’s Junior A squad, which primarily carries players aged 18-21. That marked one of the numerous times Leclaire has played up with older competition.

Delta competes in the eight-team league that draws players from British Columbia’s Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island. Those teams vie for the honor of representing B.C. at the national championships that produce the annual winner of the Minto Cup, one of Canada’s oldest sports awards.

Schuss, a current star with the National Lacrosse League’s Vancouver Stealth, added, “Tre was by far the best player in that league.”

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eclaire might not be considered the best performer in the Big Ten — yet.

But in 2017, it didn’t take long for the Buckeyes freshman to play like a seasoned veteran, despite Leclaire’s relative inexperience in the field lacrosse game.

When Ohio State’s 16-5 season ended on Memorial Day with a 9-6 loss to conference rival Maryland in the Buckeyes’ first appearance in the NCAA title game, Leclaire’s impact was obvious.

After moving from midfield to attack and after starting the final 16 games, Leclaire finished with a team-high 49 goals — the third-highest single-season total in program history and the most ever by a freshman.

Leclaire’s 65 points also were the most ever by a freshman in Columbus. As a third-team All-American, he was the first Ohio State rookie to earn a spot on a USILA first, second or third team. The three-time conference freshman of the week was an easy pick for Big Ten Rookie of the Year.

“When [Leclaire] first came here on his recruiting visit, I couldn’t believe a guy with that massive build was a freshman,” senior attackman Colin Chell said. “When we started playing box in the fall [of 2016], he was automatic in the arena for three or four goals each game.

“He’s a beast to cover. When he gets his hands free [to shoot], forget about it, I’m already thinking back of the net, whistle and we’re facing off again,” Chell added. “He can finish inside, he’s getting better as a dodger and feeder, and what an outside shooting threat he is. He’s tough to prepare for. But he’s also a very, very humble guy. He really doesn’t think he’s better than anyone else. He’s all about his teammates first.”

Despite graduating an important core of players that included four NLL draft picks, including three first-round selections, Ohio State has picked up in 2018 where it left off in 2017. The Buckeyes are 3-0 following a 9-7 victory against Hofstra. They play Sunday at Jacksonville on CBS Sports Network. Leclaire leads the team in both goals (eight) and assists (four).

“I’ve got to come out of my shell this year. I need to be more vocal. I’m learning something new about this [field] game every week,” said Leclaire, who expects he will draw more physical counterattacks by opposing close defenders who match up with his size and will try to disrupt his hands aggressively.

“The field game is more strategic than box, which is all really fast and run and gun,” he added. “You have to be more patient [in the field game], stand back, look through the defense and work through a set. I don’t want to be known as an individual performer. I’m a team player.”

Post-goal celebrations by Leclaire generally never exceed a quick fist bump or brief hug with some teammates. He is not interested in getting his shot clocked. You won’t hear him screaming on the field.

Nick Myers, the Buckeyes’ 10th-year head coach, called Leclaire a “humble, confident dude,” noting how the sophomore’s demeanor hardly changes, whether he’s just turned the ball over or fired a 15-yard laser into the upper corner past a goalkeeper unable to react in time.

During Leclaire’s recent, two-goal, two-assist showing against Hofstra, when he had a hand in four of the game’s first five goals, he did just that to Pride goalie Jack Concannon, a second-team All-American.

“To be as big and as skilled as Tre is unusual in college lacrosse,” Myers said. “And he’s still scratching the surface of what he can be.”

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ince coming to Ohio State as an assistant under current North Carolina coach Joe Breschi in 2001, Myers and the Buckeyes have incorporated Canadian players into their recruiting strategy. While many NCAA coaches have mined the talent in the eastern part of Canada, namely Ontario, Ohio State was one of the first Division I programs to make British Columbia players a priority, and Myers takes a trip each summer to the province.

When he first laid eyes on Leclaire at age 16, Myers had already known the family name. Years earlier, he had lightly recruited Tre’s older twin brothers, Griffen and Reed, who both went on to play at Wagner.

“Back when I was 13 or 14, I remember Coach Myers coming into the Ladner Leisure Center [in Delta, B.C.],” Reed Leclaire said. “There might have been 50 people in the stands. I think he was the only Division I coach scouting talent.”

By the time Myers scouted Tre, he had verbally committed to Delaware, following an all-star camp he attended in Philadelphia two summers earlier. Preliminary calls came from the likes of Towson, Denver, Drexel and Marquette. There were few serious nibbles.

Myers was floored by Leclaire’s size and grace — not to mention those advanced shooting mechanics and the velocity and accuracy they created.

When Schuss discovered Leclaire, who would go on to make the Canadian under-19 team that earned a silver medal in the 2016 world championship — he amassed 14 points in six games — Schuss wasn’t shocked that Leclaire’s college lacrosse options were limited, due to the lack of American exposure that western Canadians often receive.

“The only coach that came out west to watch box lacrosse in the summer when I was in high school was Coach Myers,” Schuss said.

Schuss advised Leclaire to look at Ohio State. Leclaire expressed interest in visiting the Columbus campus in the summer of 2015. Myers said he personally called former Delaware coach Bob Shillinglaw to inform him and get his approval.

“When Tre came back home from that Ohio State trip, he was walking on air,” said Daphne Leclaire, his mother. “That was where he wanted to go. Nick Myers didn’t know what he was getting. He didn’t know he was getting a Tre.”

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eclaire, who is known for the extra hours he spends shooting and playing wall ball alone, said his game also is a product of the endless time he spent in the backyard with his brothers with a lacrosse goal and high netting strung up to keep the balls from the neighbor’s property.

“Everything was a competition,” he said. “I would get knocked around pretty good sometimes by them, but now I’m the biggest, so I get the last word.”

“That big yard was an oasis for us,” Reed Leclaire said. “It was the three of us running around in bare feet playing until the sun went down. Sometimes it was ruthless — two-on-ones, Tre getting an extra check or jab after he threw the ball away. Some fights happened here and there, brotherly stuff.

“Tre was pretty small until about 16, when he started hitting the weights and had a big growth spurt. Around that time, we’d be going to the lax box to rip some shots. My brother and I would be watching Tre and wondering, where did this power come from?”

The youngest Leclaire had a precocious game early on. At age 10, he was playing organized box with his brothers and many other 14-year-olds. He is currently on the practice roster for the Canadian national team that will compete at the FIL World Championship in Israel this summer. The squad includes numerous players a decade older than Leclaire.

And of course, there was last year’s arrival in the world of Division I.

Leclaire originally joined Ohio State as a midfielder. He began last season running with the second line. He racked up five multi-point games before Myers felt compelled to start him in game six against Bellarmine.

Leclaire continued to impress and score and Ohio State kept winning. But following a 6-3 victory at Towson, Myers felt the need to shake up the offense and bring more transition weaponry to bear. He also wanted to keep Leclaire on the field, instead of subbing him out.

On Sunday, March 19 in Columbus, Leclaire started his first game at attack, as the 18th-ranked Buckeyes brought a 9-0 record to face top-ranked Denver. It turned into a season-changing day, as Leclaire put on a show. He dropped five goals and two assists on the Pioneers, who were overwhelmed 16-7.

Two months later, shortly after losing the Big Ten title game by a goal to Maryland, the Buckeyes were rolling in the NCAA playoffs, first by beating Loyola and Duke by a combined eight goals. Ohio State slipped past Towson in the school’s first tournament semifinals appearance, before Maryland ended the dream.

Leclaire said he has completely let that season go. For him, there is much to develop.

Leclaire is not apt to operate behind the goal, but he wants to become a better dodger and not settle for catch-and-shoot chances too much. He continues to get more comfortable feeding and needs to improve his riding. His off-ball skills are approaching top-notch.

“We lost a great senior class, and we’re just trying to build off of what we did,” Leclaire said. “It’s a new page in the book, a new chapter.”