INDUCTION YEAR: 2025

GRADUATION YEAR: 2003

BASEBALL | FOOTBALL | BOYS BASKETBALL

CLAYTON RICHARD’S ATHLETIC CAREER AT MCCUTCHEON HIGH SCHOOL WAS EXTRAORDINARY. A THREE-SPORT STANDOUT IN FOOTBALL, BASKETBALL, AND BASEBALL, HE DEMONSTRATED ELITE TALENT, LEADERSHIP, AND DISCIPLINE ACROSS ALL AREAS OF COMPETITION.

ON THE FOOTBALL FIELD, RICHARD WAS DOMINANT. HE EARNED ALL-STATE HONORS FOUR TIMES, WAS NAMED A NATIONAL ALL-AMERICAN, AND IN 2002 RECEIVED INDIANA’S HIGHEST INDIVIDUAL HONOR—MR. FOOTBALL—AS THE STATE’S TOP HIGH SCHOOL PLAYER. HIS LEADERSHIP AND PERFORMANCE LEFT A LASTING LEGACY ON THE MCCUTCHEON FOOTBALL PROGRAM.

IN BASKETBALL, RICHARD WAS A FOUR-YEAR LETTERMAN, A MEMBER OF MCCUTCHEON’S 1,000-POINT CLUB, AND A RECORD-SETTING REBOUNDER, SHOWCASING HIS VERSATILITY AND COMMITMENT AS A MULTI-SPORT ATHLETE.

BASEBALL, HOWEVER, BECAME THE STAGE WHERE HE MADE HISTORY. A FOUR-YEAR VARSITY PLAYER, RICHARD DELIVERED ONE OF THE MOST DOMINANT PITCHING SEASONS IN INDIANA HIGH SCHOOL HISTORY AS A SENIOR, LEADING THE STATE IN PITCHING AND ALLOWING JUST ONE EARNED RUN ALL SEASON. HE GUIDED THE MAVERICKS TO THEIR SECOND STATE CHAMPIONSHIP IN FIVE YEARS UNDER COACH BURTON AND WAS NAMED MR. BASEBALL, BECOMING THE FIRST ATHLETE IN INDIANA HISTORY TO WIN BOTH MR. FOOTBALL AND MR. BASEBALL.

EQUALLY IMPRESSIVE WAS RICHARD’S SUCCESS IN THE CLASSROOM. HE EARNED 12 VARSITY LETTERS AND GRADUATED AS VALEDICTORIAN, PROVING EXCELLENCE EXTENDED BEYOND ATHLETICS.

FOLLOWING MCCUTCHEON, RICHARD ATTENDED THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, WHERE HE PLAYED BOTH FOOTBALL AND BASEBALL. AFTER TWO SEASONS AS A QUARTERBACK, HE SHIFTED HIS FOCUS FULLY TO BASEBALL. IN 2005, HE WAS SELECTED IN THE 8TH ROUND OF THE MLB DRAFT BY THE CHICAGO WHITE SOX.

RICHARD MADE HIS MAJOR LEAGUE DEBUT IN 2008 AND WENT ON TO ENJOY A 15-YEAR PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL CAREER, SPENDING THE MAJORITY OF THAT TIME AS A DEPENDABLE STARTING PITCHER WITH THE SAN DIEGO PADRES. KNOWN FOR DURABILITY, CONSISTENCY, AND PROFESSIONALISM, HE ACCUMULATED OVER 50 CAREER WINS WITH THE PADRES, RANKING AMONG THE FRANCHISE’S TOP LEFT-HANDED PITCHERS.

WE CELEBRATE CLAYTON RICHARD NOT ONLY FOR HIS REMARKABLE ATHLETIC ACCOMPLISHMENTS, BUT FOR THE WAY HE REPRESENTED MCCUTCHEON HIGH SCHOOL WITH INTEGRITY, PERSEVERANCE, AND CLASS. HIS JOURNEY STANDS AS AN INSPIRATION TO CURRENT AND FUTURE MAVERICKS—PROOF THAT DEDICATION, CHARACTER, AND HARD WORK CAN LEAD TO EXTRAORDINARY SUCCESS.