Sherard Clinkscales - a standout pitcher at Purdue and former Kansas City Royals top prospect who most recently spent 10 years in Major League scouting with the Braves and Devil Rays - is embarking on his first season as a Notre Dame assistant coach, serving as pitching coach, assisting with recruiting and overseeing the program's student welfare operation, encompassing community service and academic progress.

A record-setting strikeout ace at Purdue, Clinkscales was the 31st overall pick in the 1992 Major League draft, going to the Royals as a compensatory pick between the first and second rounds. The Royals also selected future big-leaguers Michael Tucker, Jim Pittsley, Johnny Damon and Jon Lieber within the first 44 picks of the '92 draft. Injuries cut short his playing career but Clinkscales parlayed his connections into a position with the Atlanta Braves, as an area scouting supervisor (1997-99). The Indianapolis native later was the Tampa Bay Devil Rays assistant director of scouting (1999-2001) and returned to the Braves as an area scouting supervisor (2001-05) before being promoted to the position of professional scout in 2005-06.

The son of former minor-league baseball player Lester Clinkscales - a lefthanded pitcher who reached triple-A Indianapolis during an 11-year career in the White Sox organization - the younger Clinkscales was an all-county pitcher at Brebeuf Jesuit High School and an all-county point guard for the BJHS basketball team that beat powerhouse Pike in the 1989 sectionals before losing on a last-second shot to Lawrence North, led by future North Carolina standout Eric Montross. His teammates at Brebeuf Jesuit included future NBA player Alan Henderson.

Clinkscales was a scholarship baseball player while also playing for Gene Keady's 1989-90 basketball team, as an invited walk-on (he turned down full scholarship offers from D-I basketball schools). His breakout baseball season came as a junior, earning ABCA all-region and first team all-Big Ten Conference honors while leading longtime coach Dave Alexander's 1992 squad in ERA (2.34), strikeouts (87), wins (7), complete games (9) and innings (80.2). He earlier was invited to attend tryouts for the 1991 United States Olympic team.

His pro career included playing with the single-A Eugene (Ore.) Emeralds and Rockford (Ill.) Royals. Clinkscales was released in 1995 and was picked up by the Chicago Cubs before opting to end his playing career. He earlier returned to Purdue to complete his requirements before graduating in 1994 with a degree in history.

Clinkscales received a call in 1996 from Atlanta Braves assistant general manager Dean Taylor. After making a strong impression in his interview with GM John Schuerholz and director of scouting Paul Snyder - a legend in the scouting community - Clinkscales was offered a position with the Braves. He served as a 1997 area scouting supervisor for the mid-Atlantic region (Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Washington, D.C.) and held the same title in 1998-99 within the Midwest region of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and North and South Dakota. In his position as mid-Atlantic area scouting supervisor, Clinkscales replaced Dayton Moore - who has gone on to become assistant GM for the Braves and now general manager of the Royals. The role of area scouting supervisor involved overseeing evaluations of high school and college players, with associate scouts reporting directly to Clinkscales. He also handled scouting a big league club, breaking down teams such as the Orioles, Reds, Indians and Royals.

Clinkscales first crossed paths with the current Notre Dame head coach in the 1998 college season, when Schrage was at Northern Iowa. The Braves later selected UNI's Scott Sobkowiack in the seventh round of the 1998 draft and he went on to pitch with the big-league club before career ending elbow surgery.

The fall of 1999 saw Clinkscales become assistant director of scouting with a Tampa Bay Devil Rays franchise owned by Notre Dame graduate Vince Naimoli. In this new role, he evaluated elite players nationwide while coordinating draft operations and handling all budgeting for domestic and international scouting. While in Tampa, he completed a 2001 executive training program and worked alongside respected talent evaluator Dan Jennings (now the Florida Marlins assistant GM).

Clinkscales returned to the Braves in the fall of 2001 and served four years as an area scouting supervisor in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee. He signed infielder Eric Campbell (Fort Branch, Ind.), a 2004 second-round pick who is rated one of the top-10 prospects in the Braves organization. His most recent position of professional scout included evaluating minor-leaguers in the Carolina and Midwest leagues (as possible trades/acquisitions). He also served as an advance scout in the 2005 playoffs, providing a complete scouting report of the Red Sox.

In the new role of professional scout, Clinkscales - who was instrumental in signing Australian National Team standout and eventual Major League pitcher Peter Moylan - reported directly to Schuerholz and Moore, who accepted his new post with the Royals in 2006.

During recent offseasons, Clinkscales worked alongside co-founder Scott McGowan with After Sport Group, an organization that conducts oncampus career workshops for student-athletes.

Clinkscales emerged as one of the nation's top pitching prospects as a junior at Purdue. A top three-year starter, he compiled a 5.01 career ERA and 14-14 record in 41 appearances (36 starts), with 190 strikeouts, 173 walks and 38 more innings pitched (196) than hits allowed (158). His 14 complete games included three solo shutouts and a no-hitter. He still owns Purdue's top career strikeout average (8.72 Ks/9 IP), also now ranking fourth in fewest hits allowed per nine innings (7.26, best since '71) and eighth in strikeouts (190, most among three-year players).

His 1992 season ranks among the best ever by a Purdue pitcher, tying team records for strike-2.34 ERA that is second-best in the record book and tops in the past 40 years. His 1992 strikeout average (9.71/9 IP) was best in Purdue history and now ranks second, while his 6.0 hits allowed per 9.0 IP is best by a Purdue pitcher since the late 1960s (sixth overall). His teammates at Purdue included outfielder Jermaine Allensworth, who went on to play in the majors with Pittsburgh, Kansas City and the New York Mets. Allensworth was selected by Pittsburgh with the 34th overall pick, as Clinkscales remains the highest-drafted baseball player in Purdue history.

Clinkscales had similar seasons in 1990 (6.13, 4-6, 55 Ks, 57 BB, 48 H in 61.2 IP), and 1991 (7.71, 3-4, 48 Ks, 58 BB, 56 H, 53.2 IP) before the breakout that earned him the second-most votes for 1992 Big Ten pitcher of the year. During his junior season, Purdue split a pair of games versus a talented 1992 Notre Dame squad that featured future Major Leaguers Craig Counsell and Chris Michalak.

Clinkscales was a member of the 1989-90 Purdue basketball team that finished as the Big Ten runner-up and lost to the Travis Mays-led Texas team in the NCAAs. His teammate and roommate on the road that season was Matt Painter, now head coach of the Boilermakers.

Clinkscales and his wife, the former Trisha Lashan Smith (a graduate of Ball State), were married in 1995 and are the parents of a son, Alex (8), and a daughter, Tara (7).