Ron Slay

Height:
6-8
Class:
Freshman
Hometown:
Nashville, Tenn.
High School:
Pearl-Cohn High School

CAREER HIGHS

Points: 38 // vs. New Mexico, 1/4/03
Rebounds: 14 // at #2 Kentucky, 2/26/03
Assists: 7 // vs. UT Martin, 12/30/02
Steals: 2 (14x) // last at Vanderbilt, 3/8/03
Blocks: 2 // vs. #20 UConn, 3/19/00
Field Goals: 12 (2x) // last vs. #17 Georgia, 2/8/03
3-Pointers: 5 // vs. New Mexico, 1/4/03
Free Throws: 15 // vs. New Mexico, 1/4/03
Minutes: 42 // at #19 Georgia, 1/22/03

HONORS

2017 SEC Basketball Legend
Tennessee Basketball All-Century Team
2003 SEC Player of the Year (Associated Press)
2003 Third-Team All-American (Associated Press)
2003 First-Team All-SEC (Associated Press, Coaches)
SEC Player of the Week (Feb. 17, 2003)
SEC Player of the Week (Feb. 10, 2003)

PROFESSIONAL CAREER

Immediately following the completion of his career as a Vol, he embarked on a 13-year career as a professional basketball player overseas.
Played in pro leagues in Israel, Venezuela, Italy, Spain, Puerto Rico, Portugal and France.
Was a member of the Miami Heat's 2003 NBA Summer League roster.

2002-03 - SENIOR

Finished his career ranked 13th on Tennessee's all-time scoring list with 1,569 points.
Also finished among UT's all-time leaders in 3-point percentage (seventh, .370), free throws made (seventh, 402), free throws attempted (T-seventh, 532) and free throw percentage (11th, .7556).
Earned 2003 SEC Player of the Year honors from the Associated Press, CollegeInsider.com and Dick Vitale of ESPN.
Was a third-team All-America selection by the Associated Press and FOXsports.com.
Garnered first-team All-SEC acclaim from the league's coaches, the Associated Press and Dick Vitale.
Was a 2003 Wooden Award finalist.
Other honors included USBWA All-District IV Team, NABC All-Disrict 7 first-team status and Basketball Times' All-South Team.
Finished his senior season averaging 21.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists while shooting .486 from the field, .374 from 3-point range and .782 from the free-throw line.
The SEC scoring champion, he led the league with an average of 21.2 points per game, nearly 3.0 points more than the next-closest player.
He also led the league in scoring during SEC play, averaging 21.1 points.
Was the only player in the SEC to finish among the league's top 10 in both scoring and rebounding (7.1 rpg, seventh).
Was Tennessee's top scorer in 26 out of 29 games.
When he returned to the court after his final game at Kentucky's Rupp Arena (2/26/03), he received a rousing ovation from the UK fans.
He finished that Kentucky contest with a game-high 22 points and a career-high 14 rebounds.
Became the first player since Florida's Dan Cross in 1994 to win back-to-back SEC Player of the Week honors when he earned the award on Feb. 10 and Feb. 17.
Became only the third player in SEC history to capture back-to-back SEC Player of the Week awards (UT's Dyron Nix also did it to begin the 1989 SEC season).
Was runner-up for FOXsports.com's National Player of the Week award on Feb. 10.
Avenged an earlier loss at Georgia by scoring 33 points in the Vols' 78-72 home victory over the Bulldogs (2/8/03).
Played a career-high 42 minutes during the Vols' 81-76 overtime loss at No. 19 Georgia (1/22/03), finishing with 29 points and eight rebounds.
Flirted with a triple-double in the win over UT Martin (12/30/02), totaling 21 points, nine rebounds and a career-best seven assists.
Broke the 30-point mark for the first time in his career when he dropped 31 in UT's season-opening win over Gardner-Webb (11/22/02).

2001-02 - JUNIOR

Missed Tennessee’s final 15 games after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee when he was fouled with 4:39 left in the first half of Tennessee’s win over eighth-ranked Syracuse (1/19/02).
Scored 20 or more points five times.
Led the Vols in rebounding in six of his last eight games.
In four games against SEC foes, he averaged 19.0 points and 8.8 rebounds.
Tied his career-high 11 rebounds against third-ranked Florida (1/9/02).
Had 21 points and nine rebounds on 6-of-10 shooting against Ole Miss (1/6/02).
Tied his season-high with 23 points against West Virginia (12/22/01); his 10 free throws made against the Mountaineers tied his career-high to that point.
Made his first start of the season at SMU (12/6/01) and finished with a game-high 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field, including 1-of-2 from 3-point range, to go along with eight rebounds and three assists in 30 minutes of action.
In just 16 minutes of action, he scored 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting to go with five rebounds against Appalachian State (11/29/01); he set a then-career-high for 3-pointers made with his 3-of-4 effort from behind the arc against the Mountaineers.
Returned from injury in a limited role for UT’s win over Alaska Anchorage (11/23/01), going 5-of-6 from the field and totaling 11 points in 16 minutes of action.
Suffered a stress fracture to his right fibula on Oct. 28, which forced him to miss Tennessee’s first two games of the season.

2000-01 - SOPHOMORE

A third-team All-SEC selection by both the league’s coaches and the Associated Press.
Considered by many to be the best sixth0man in the nation
ESPN analyst Dick Vitale said, “Ron Slay brings the energy and enthusiasm when he comes in the game. He’s the best sixth man in college basketball.”
Moved into the starting lineup for five of Tennessee’s final six regular-season games and then started the Vols’ NCAA Tournament game.
Averaged 13.0 points per game when in the starting lineup (91 points in seven starts).
Averaged 21.0 points and 8.0 rebounds in Tennessee’s two SEC Tournament games.
Scored 20 points against Ole Miss (3/9/01) in the second round of the SEC Tournament.
Came off the bench to register 22 points and 11 rebounds in 21 minutes of action against Auburn (3/8/01) in UT’s SEC Tournament first-round game.
Recorded his second career double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds in 27 minutes of action against Georgia (2/21/01).
Tossed in 15 points in only 20 minutes of action against 11^th-ranked Florida (2/18/01).
Scored 18 points with nine rebounds in his third career start, which came against No. 22 Kentucky (2/14/01)
Got his second career start in Tennessee’s 84-79 victory over Mississippi State (1/20/01), during which he scored 15 points in 33 minutes of action.
Saw a streak of 10 straight games scoring in double figures come to an end against South Carolina (1/13/01) when he recorded nine points in 17 minutes.
During Tennessee’s seven-game road trip over the holidays, he averaged 15.6 points and 5.4 rebounds while shooting .633 (38-of-60) from the field and .600 (3-of-5) from 3-point range.
Came off the bench to record his first career double-double with a then-career-high 27 points and 10 rebounds at No. 12 Syracuse (12/22/01).
Named to the All-Tournament Team at the Rainbow Classic after averaging 15.0 points and 4.0 rebounds in leading Tennessee to the tournament championship in Honolulu, Hawaii (12/28-30/00).
Listed as one of Andy Katz’s Top Five Players from around the nation for the week of his Dec. 11 Weekly Word column on ESPN.com.
Scored 22 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field and 9-of-14 shooting from the free-throw line against SMU (12/5/00).
Rated as the No. 10 power forward in the nation in The Sporting News’ 2000-01 season preview.

1999-2000 - FRESHMAN

Saw action in all 33 games, making one start against American- Puerto Rico (12/21/99).
Played the second-most minutes among the freshmen, averaging 17.3 minutes per game.
Ranked as the third-leading scorer on team with 320 point for a 9.7 average, while pulling down 4.4 rebounds
Led team in free-throw percentage at .798 while shooting .511 percent from the field.
Scored in double figures 16 times, including nine of the UT’s final 12 games.
Played at least 20 minutes on 11 occasions and scored at least eight points 23 times.
Scored double-digits in five consecutive games at Alabama (17), vs. Arkansas (13), at Georgia (17), vs. South Carolina (13) and vs. Louisiana-Lafayette (15).
Averaged 11.7 points and 5.0 rebounds in three NCAA Tournament games, shooting 52 percent from the field (13-of-25).
Had 12 points and a team-high seven rebounds against North Carolina (3/24/00).
Totaled 15 points against Louisiana-Lafayette (3/17/00) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, scoring 11 in the second half.
Set a season-high with two blocks and two steals against UConn (3/19/00) while scoring eight points with four rebounds.
Scored a career-high 17 points four times: against Elon, at Mississippi State, when he hit 9-of-10 free throws, at Alabama (2/26/00) and vs. Georgia (3/4/00).
Had 13 points with five rebounds against South Carolina (3/10/00) in the SEC Tournament.
Scored 17 at Georgia (2/23/99), connecting on a then-career-high seven field goals.
Scored 13 against Arkansas (2/2/99).
Pulled down at least six boards on nine occasions, including a career-high 10 in the Radford game (1/2/00).
Scored 11 points with six rebounds in his only start of the season vs. American-Puerto Rico (12/21/99).
Scored 14 vs. Long Island (11/26/99) on 5-of-7 shooting from the field.

HIGH SCHOOL

Led prestigious Oak Hill Academy (Va.) to a 31-0 record and the final USA Today No. 1 high school ranking in 1998-99; was coached at Oak Hill by Steve Smith.
Averaged 17 points, nine rebounds and 2.5 blocks as a senior in 1998-99.
Chosen to participate in the Derby Classic and the SEC-ACC Hoops Classic, two of the nation's highest-profile prep all-star games, following his senior season.
Captured the slam-dunk contest championship at the Derby Classic.
Played his first three high school seasons at Pearl-Cohn High School in his hometown of Nashville, where he was a first-team All-State performer.
Averaged 22 points and 12 rebounds as a junior in 1997-98 and finished as runner-up (to eventual UT teammate Vincent Yarbrough) for the state of Tennessee's Class AAA Mr. Basketball Award.
Led Pearl-Cohn to consecutive state tournament appearances in 1997 and 1998.
Named Nashville's 1998 Metro Player of the Year.
Averaged 15.6 points and 9.6 rebounds as a sophomore.
Was a high school teammate of eventual Tennessee football All-American and 2001 Outland Trophy winner John Henderson, who was a 2002 first-round NFL Draft pick.