BUTLER TWP— Before resuming his playing career, Matt Clement figured he would get a little coaching in — on the basketball coach.

The veteran major leaguer pitcher and Butler graduate, who was a stellar Golden Tornado basketball player in his day, has been coaching Butler's fourth-grade boys traveling team this winter.

"The whole thing developed over a conversation at church,"Clement said. "A couple of guys I know have kids on the team and go to my church.

"They needed a coach and they know my passion for basketball. I just wasn't sure if I could commit the time necessary to do the job well.

"I've never done anything half-throttle in my life,"Clement added.

But when Butler varsity coach Joe Lewandowski called to offer him the coaching position, Clement jumped at it.

"I have interest in coaching high school basketball when my baseball career is over,"he said. "I saw this as an opportunity to get my feet wet.

"My oldest son, Mattix, is 5 now, and the idea of getting a ball in his hands two or three times in a gym each week wasn't a bad thing, either."

Mattix joins his father in the gym for practices and games. The fourth-grade squad is 5-2 in a league with Fox Chapel, Mars, Hampton, Northgate, North Hills, Seneca Valley and Franklin.

Lewandowski formed elementary grade traveling teams when he took over as Butler basketball coach six years ago.

"Matt's doing a great job with those kids,"Lewandowski said. "He wants to be a basketball coach and he knows the game inside and out. Getting Matt on board really bolsters our youth program. He's like a Pied Piper for it."

Clement emphasizes defense to the 10 boys on the team: Matt Wetzel, Ryan Bargo, Jake Roskovski, Derek Burk, Logan Bergbigler, Rhett Wahler, Tucker Skerbetz, Kelley Kuharic, Kaden Rock and Devin Fitz.

"If you're my best scorer, you don't play the whole game,"Clement said. "If you're my best defender, you play the whole game.

"I've gotten better at this as the season's gone along. There is a lot of adjusting on the fly."

Clement talks to his former high school coach, Mark Jula, now the varsity coach at Center High School, once a week for advice.

"I catch myself thinking more and more about how to control and motivate the kids,"he said. "We're teaching some plays to them that we'll never use in a game, but we're exposing them to it.

"When they get to seventh grade and the coach rolls out that play, it'll be like, 'Hey, we've seen this before.'"

Joe Kuharic, father of Kelley and a former schoolboy teammate of Clement's, was one of the fathers who approached him about coaching the team.

"The kids respond to him well,"Kuharic said."These are 9-year-olds who are still getting their feet wet. Matt approaches them and talks to them. They're comfortable with each other. It's a good fit. He's put together a cohesive team that plays together."

Lewandowski agreed.

"What kid wouldn't want to be coached by a successful professional athlete?"he said. "And Matt hasn't approached this like her knows everything. He wants to learn how to coach basketball from the ground up. He's been very humble about it."

Yet he wants his players to reach for the stars.

"At the level (of baseball)I'm at, everyone's there because they have talent,"said Clement, who will miss the final four games of the season when he reports to spring training.. "In fourth grade, the motivation is to want to be a great player. You shouldn't just want to be the best player on your team or in your grade or in your school.

"You should have visions of getting a college scholarship or playing in the NBA. Maybe that's not realistic, but it's what you work toward.

"At this age, if a kid is the worst player on the team and he works on his game during the summer, I can't guarantee he'll come back as the best player — but he won't come back as the worst,"Clement added.