Tom Klosowski is a 2010 graduate of Gulliver Prep in Miami.  He went onto win two national championships at Onongaga Community College and is now headed to play for Ohio State. We caught up with Tom and he was kind enough to answer a few questions for us. IFL – You chose a route that is not common for Florida kids.  How did you manage to get the attention of the nation’s top JuCo lacrosse program?  They do not normally seem to recruit nationally. TK – I was first contacted by Onondaga Community College after a summer league game at Tropical Park in Miami. It was a result of networking and a group effort by the coaches in the area to help me find a school to play for in the upcoming year. A few coaches, such as Coach Bellando, who was the Coral Reef High School coach and then a coach at Saint Andrews School, helped get my name and number to the right people in the right situations. I originally was looking at the junior college route as an option after learning of my Coach, Jake Koch’s, experience at Herkimer. I decided it was a route worth taking and an opportunity to experience things I never would have had the chance to otherwise. IFL – What led you to choose to continue your career at Ohio State? TK – After my first year at Onondaga, I started the recruiting process all over again, except this time I had a better understanding of what I needed to do to be successful in finding the right fit. I visited Hofstra and Ohio State and entertained many offers from many schools in all divisions, but when I visited the campus at Ohio State it felt like home from the minute I stepped on campus. The atmosphere was amazing and the people and tradition are even better. IFL – What was better? The Lacrosse Magazine’s NJCAA Player of the Year honors or the back to back national championships? TK – I would, without a doubt, say back to back national championships and undefeated seasons. The championships and seasons we did as a team, the player of the year or any other individual awards don’t mean anything if you don’t play as a team. That’s what made us so successful and that’s why Onondaga will continue to be so successful because the coaching staff there knows how to bring a team together and play as a team all the time. In the end I would rather ride the bench and have zero recognition if it meant helping my team win. We don’t play this sport for ourselves; we play for the man standing next to us and to represent the institutions that provide us with a support system and education. IFL – What advice do you have for Florida kids who think that a couple of years at the JuCo level may be the best educational choice for them? TK – My advice to any student athletes from Florida interested in JuCo for academics and athletics would be: keep your focus, don’t get caught up in the hype and never take no for an answer. Anybody can be great, it just takes a certain amount of preparation. IFL- What do you hope to accomplish with your time at OSU? TK – With my time at The Ohio State University I hope to really gain another family, make my teammates and coaches at Onondaga proud in representing them, make Florida proud in representing them, put Miami lacrosse on the map, and do anything my team here at OSU requires of me. I am so grateful for this opportunity I have here at this amazing University, and I am just going to soak it all in and take it one day at a time. Most importantly I hope to receive an education and make my FAMILY proud.