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Everything Orange
Ron Slay
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It’s not Christmas, but we’re ready for a Slay ride.
SEC basketball analyst, 2003 SEC Player of the Year, and Vol for Life Ron Slay joins the Everything Orange podcast for an in-depth conversation about his time at Tennessee.
Slay reflects on some of his favorite Tennessee basketball memories, the culture inside Food City Center, and how Rocky Top continued to influence his personal and professional journeys beyond his playing career.
He brings the same personality and energy that made him a fan favorite, offering an honest look back at his playing days and his lasting connection to Tennessee.
Um loyal to my state and always been a representation of that. I feel like it's not many out there with voices to let people know how we feel about our program, our athletics, our school. Yeah, Tennessee is different. I gotta tell it on. I got the checkerboard T. Right there, man. That's how much it means to me.
SPEAKER_03Hey y'all, welcome back to the Everything Orange Podcast presented by First Horizon Bank. We have such a fun guest in the podcast studio with us today, an SEC legend, a Tennessee sports hall of fame. Gosh, if he doesn't represent the state of Tennessee, I don't know who does. But I really don't need to give him that much more of an introduction because if you know anything about Tennessee men's basketball, you know plenty about who our guest is on the show with us today. He is the one, he is the only Ron Slay. Ron Slay, welcome to the Everything Orange podcast.
SPEAKER_00Yes. Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_03We are so excited to have you on.
SPEAKER_00When I heard the invite, I was like, yeah, this is it.
SPEAKER_03Be there. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00What time? I'm gonna be there. I'm trying to be early. I'm coming from a long way, but I'm coming.
SPEAKER_03Hey, we never doubted you. We knew that you would show up and we appreciate the time before you do your radio show upstairs. But when you come back home and you get to drive east from Nashville to Knoxville, do you start getting excited again about feeling like, oh man, I'm going back home?
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. I have to first get past Bucky's and Pilot and all my spots that I used to stop at then the nostalgia kicks in. Um I remember driving up when I first moved in. Um came up in the summer. I remember that drive. Um, me not knowing what to expect, moving into Gibbs, which is Stokely now, but was much smaller Stokely at the time. Moving into Gibbs and going into the dorm, packed all my stuff up, got up here, got a TV, um, met the guys, and we just got straight to it. It was like a big old high school.
SPEAKER_03What's it like when you do get to come back for a game day weekend? Just what are you most looking forward to? What are the experiences that you have being home and like reliving the glory days?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, um, the the people that I was in school with, um, whether it be football, baseball, uh, volleyball, it does not matter. But those running into those people, sharing stories before the game, because we remember being in those shoes, like where we used to sit, you know, the student section, um, much easier at that time to get a student ticket. A little different now, but um that wasn't our problem to deal with. But it was um, it was always it was always fun, you know. You come back, you wait ready for the tailgate. And it's different now being on this side of it, right? Because, you know, you get to experience the fanatic part. You know, we could never really dive all the way in that, um, and in that part uh as far as being an athlete, but now being a fan, um, a VFL, it's totally different. The stories that you hear, it's like, okay, yeah, you know what I'm saying? Like it's it's a next next level. And then also I'm gonna be honest, being able to interact with the fans.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00That's the best part about it. Like, you didn't really get that because they kind of ushered you through, you know, get you to your seed, stay there, watch the game. But now you're amongst the people, you're high five and coming through, you get to see the vault. You know, after basketball, that was my first time seeing the vault walk. I had never seen the vault walk.
SPEAKER_03No way.
SPEAKER_02Ever.
SPEAKER_00You know what I'm saying? So it was it was pretty cool to uh take in all of the traditions and everything around.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Now I want to learn more too about who Ron Slay is because we knew Ron Slay when he was here. Yeah. And we still really know him now for all the things that you're doing on the radio and TV show and whatnot, but we know you as this larger than life personality. But I want to know who was Ron Slay growing up in Nashville? Were you always that way too growing up?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think so. Um I was a we grew up in the inner city um in Nashville, but I had we moved so much. Single parent household, oldest of uh six um siblings. Um, so I was the oldest, and we moved all the time, whether it be um my mom moving jobs, and she always worked at the boys and girls clubs in the in the city. So that kept me being able to adapt to different cultures, different people, whatever it may be, and kind of being a chameleon wherever I went to. Um and then, like you said, always being kind of myself, like having a personality and standing out. That was always fun. But always involved in sports. I started out being a ball boy. Um, I used to really love the band. Like that was my thing. I used to act like I was a drum major, running around the house because I grew up at Tennessee State University. My mom worked there. So I would always sneak out and go watch the band practice, and they have a um classic um next level band, the whisk credit band. So I used to act like I was a drum major doing the hike. So, and then when I when I learned about Tennessee, I wanted to do the march coming out there. I don't know how I could lean back like that. Maybe I'll take this chair or a wheelchair or something and do it. But um, that was me bouncing around, playing at every center, playing outside all the time. Um loved being involved with sports. You know, that was my that was my my piece, if you will. You know, so that was me. That is I'm kind of what you see. Yeah. You know, it wasn't, I'm I'm always been transparent. That's always been the easiest way with me, um, from being in choir at church to being um the leader in the huddle when you're breaking it down. So it's it's it's pretty much the same me. Nashville kid through and through, born in Memphis. Yes, um, raised a little bit in Chattanooga, so I call myself Tennessee Mutt.
SPEAKER_03Well, you yeah, you are a true Tennessean if I've ever known one, that's for sure. Well, speaking of that, what was your understanding or your connection to the University of Tennessee growing up? Did you become a big fan? Were you always a big fan? Or when did that relationship kind of form?
SPEAKER_00Well, I wasn't always a big fan, um, uh mainly because I didn't know that much about it. You know, um, I'm more so knew, honestly, about Vanderbilt. Yeah, at that time uh they had Memorial Magic and stuff like that. It was right there at home, you know what I'm saying? But um they they had a rolling. Um I was a big fan of Arkansas, big fan of Memphis. Um, seeing them, Arkansas would go on and play in um national championship games and things of that nature. Became a fan of Kentucky a little bit because Ron Mercer, one of the guys I looked up to, went there. Um, and then when I got like to high school, the recruiting and things of that nature started, and you started to see guys go. Charles Hathaway went up here, he was McDonald's, all-American from Nashville, so it kind of caught the eye a little bit. And I was like, oh, oh, what is this? And then with him being recruited, you start hearing about guys like Alan Houston, you start learning the history, the tradition, and then it was an influx in talent. Like from Vincent Yarborough to Tony Harris, Terrence Woods, um, CJ Black from Chattanooga, like they surrounded the state. And it was like, whoa, they're doing something special up here. So I took, I took a liking in, and once that happened, it was like, you know what? I don't think it's anything cooler than to have a group of pla of players or um that go to the same school and represent the state. So it's a little different when you slapped that I give my offer Tennessee, knowing that you're from Tennessee and you are a representation of that, and everybody buys into it, regardless if we ward or not, we were gonna talk about our state. So, what better place to do it than right here at the state school?
SPEAKER_03Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00You know, so that was pulled me in.
SPEAKER_03So talk to me about when you arrived on Rocky Top 1999. Times were really good then, because if we remember '98, obviously the football team had just won their national championship. Pat Summit's coming off of her three-peat with the women's basketball team. What was the energy like here in Knoxville?
SPEAKER_00Championship like. We played pickup, and it was like, okay. It was our five freshmen versus the five upperclassmen. And when I say we got to it, we got to it. And once we left there, you could feel it. And it was like, okay, yeah, we're gonna do something special. And that started the ride right there.
SPEAKER_03Can I ask who won that, who won that game?
SPEAKER_00I'm gonna be honest. Um, I'm always gonna say the the freshmen won it, you know. Um but I do think a little bit of experience kicked in and they started cheating. Yeah, they cheated on the score. You know, I don't know if they didn't think we could count, you know what I mean, college-wise or anything, but at that time I think they said they won the series, but I begged a different. But it was it was a battle.
SPEAKER_03Absolutely. Well, one of my favorite pieces of Ron Slay lore is the night, the what midnight madness is what they called it back then. Yeah. Your freshman year, people are still getting to know you before the season's really started yet. And you come out wearing a scream mask and you dunk over a row of basketballs.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Walk me through the night.
SPEAKER_00Listen, man, I had never, up to that point, I had never lost a dunk contest. So I'm thinking, like, how do I make my splash? I've always heard about these Midnight Madnesses, and it's a craze. You know, all the fans, that's our first introduction to the crowd. I'm like, you know what? I gotta come in and make a splash. What am I gonna do? And I just so happened to have a screen mask. So I get the screen mask, I'm like, okay, what can I do? I always did a dunk over the ball rack.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_00I'm like, let me put the screen mask on, come out, dunk over the ball rack, and the crowd went crazy. I'm like, yeah, I've arrived. Now, the only problem with this though, Marcus Hayslip had a crazy vertical. He's at 6'9, 6'10 at the time. We were coming off of Vince Carter in the NBA slam dunk contest, putting his elbow in the rim. So Marcus Hayslip went up and put both arms in the rim. And so after that, I was like, you know what, you got it, Slip. But the people know me. You know what I mean? That's all it was about. The people know me. I left the impact, and it started a ride.
SPEAKER_03That's right. Yeah, everyone can have their own thing and that's fine, but you left the impact. They will remember you one way or another.
SPEAKER_01The sleigh ride started.
SPEAKER_03Absolutely. So you joined this program immediately, you're part of an SEC championship team. You know what it's like to win alongside this group, going to the Sweet 16. But you've got guys you mentioned like John Higgins, Tony Harris, Vincent Yarborough, Marcus Hazleth. At that time, did you understand what a special group of guys you were playing with?
SPEAKER_00Yes, I did. Because we looked at the roster and we had played against each other. Um, me and Vincent had played against each other. Terrence Woods was there. Like we had all these guys that were from Tennessee, and if you just look at the resume, everybody had either been runner-up for Mr. Basketball or won Mr. Basketball. And that's a prestige award right here in Tennessee. So if you can get that on your resume, you got something. And we had that all across the board. Plus, we had McDonald's All-Americans with Tony Harris. You had Isaiah Victor from Hopkinsville. That might as well be Tennessee in a sense, but um, everybody right there. And we all got along. So we knew we had something special. The other part is it was no envy. Like everybody was cheering each other on. And I thought that's what made us special because it's very seldom you get guys from that can go from one through ten, and everybody is cheering each other on instead of being like, man, I wish I was out there. You know what I'm saying? Right. You're just looking for whatever time you get to go make the most of it, and then we thrived in that.
SPEAKER_03And playing their role. Like it was just for the team. Whatever role they needed, that's what they were doing.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely.
SPEAKER_03Who was your guy on the team?
SPEAKER_00My guy, um, my guy, oh man, that's tough. Isaiah Victor immediately. Okay. Because we were suitemates. Um, me, Terrence Woods were roommates. Isaiah Victor was our suite mate. Um, so we were together all the time. Um, it evolved into me and Vince and Yarbrough, because we were a little closer in age. Vince was my guy. Dale Baker, but me and Vince, Vince, that's that's that's my dog. I call him nasty because he he can do some nasty stuff on that court, man. It's just you he leaves you in awe. So Dale was my guy, but all of them, really, man. Like we we got a bond. We in a group chat now. I love that. That is, is we joke on each other. Like anytime we get together, there's nothing but laughs. Um, but we also check in on each other. Yeah. So we created a bond. All of my guys, but them, them right there were I spent the most time with them.
SPEAKER_03And you know, kids these days don't get the dorm life because you know, they're they they get the opportunity now to live off campus, they got their own places, whatever. But that dorm life is different. Those relationships, like that's where they really form and they'll last forever, to your point.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely.
SPEAKER_03I'm just missing out on that one. I mean, come on. No, no, exactly. Uh, but with so many personalities on the team, like, give me a glimpse into what those practices looked like early, late at night, like just give me a glimpse into it.
SPEAKER_00Um, let's say we'll practice. You could easily come to one of our practices and it was always structure, but we could easily say, let's go shirts and skins and compete. I think that was our competitive edge that we had was second to none. It was plenty of times Coach had to stop practice because we were so competitive. And it's like we'll take each other's head off. You know what I'm saying? Like it's it's a part of it, and it's an iron sharpens iron type of thing. Um I think that's that that's one, the competitive edge that we had. I talked about the camaraderie. Like, we always had that, whether it be on the road, um, whether we're here. Um, if we're just sitting in the locker room after practice, we'd staying there for two, three hours. We actually would have um parties. I don't know if we were supposed to say that, but I met a couple parties in our locker room. Nobody knows, you know what I'm saying? But I super look. I listened, the sound system was amazing. I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_03So I mean, like, what else were you supposed to do?
SPEAKER_00Exactly. So we might as well do it there. But we were safe. You know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_01Everybody knew where we were.
SPEAKER_00So uh, but that was um that was good times. Um, the road, the road was phenomenal. Anytime we on the road, like we didn't really used to get out of the hotel that much, but if we were able to go, we always traveled as a pack. Um, and it was always us against everybody. Um, once we got to the locker room, everybody locked in. Um it was it was dope, man. I just uh it's something you you would love to recreate, and it's something you had to be there. Oh yeah. Yeah, you had to be there. I thought the coaches let everybody, like you talked about everybody having a personality. Coaches did a phenomenal job of letting everybody be them.
SPEAKER_02Oh yeah, absolutely. You know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_00And not reining them in and saying, you can't do this. We kind of policed ourselves in a sense. You know, from the outside it looked like we was out of control, but we we actually held each other. Yeah, I promised. But nobody ever got in trouble. Right. You know what I'm saying? So yeah, we were accountable for each other. And uh the uh veterans, the older guys, they did a terrific job of ushering us in too.
SPEAKER_03Were there any guys that were like big trash talkers on the team like during those practices? Like anyone can really compete with the yeah, yeah, you? It was you.
SPEAKER_00But you have to you everybody had the one-on-one battles. Like Tony Harris, he's a jokester.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_00All the time. Like everything's funny. There are no serious moments until game time. But everything else, it's a joke, man. He's gonna crack jokes all day long. Being from Memphis, that's what they do. They jaund on each other. And he brought it right here to it. So, um, but him and Harris Walker would go at it. Isaiah Victor was a trash talker.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_00He could get going. Vincent Yarbrough was an under the breath talk, trash talker, but his was more, you know, like silent killer. He could have been in a Quentin Tarantino movie. You know what I'm saying? Like you got the Uma Thurman type, you know, you got a kill Bill style type guy. Um, but the bigs were me, Isaiah Victor, Charles Hathaway a little bit. Marcus Hayslip really didn't say nothing. He was a silent assassin. Um I did, I'm gonna be honest, I did enough for all of this. All right. Like nobody, if everybody was doing what I was doing, we practice ain't gonna be, it ain't gonna be right. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03You did it for that was you wore it with the badge of honor. That's just who you were. Yes.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely.
SPEAKER_03So let's talk about the one and only, honestly, icon with the headband. Like we you gotta talk about it, and we gotta get the backstory because this has kind of always been you. It wasn't when you really got to Tennessee, right?
SPEAKER_00No, always. Where'd it come from? So it started in seventh, no, eighth grade. Me and my um cousin, Marcus Fish Jero, one of my best friends. Um, I call him my cousin. Marcus Fish Jural, we were going to West End Middle School together, and we won't we wanted to do something to stand out. And at that time, a lot of people weren't wearing a headband. So we started rocking the headband, and it kind of took off from there. It was only one time, well, two times in my career that I never wore a headband. One, when I got to Oak Hill Academy, Coach Smith, and I talk about this all the time, would not let me wear a headband. Why? Because he thought I was alienating myself from the team and trying to be different. And I'm not. It's just who I was.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00The problem with that is, two years later, you know who he let wear the headband? Yeah. Carmelo Anthony. Like Melo. He let Melo wear it. I'm like, dude, I brought you a national championship. We were 31 and old. But neither here nor there.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, right. You know what I'm saying? Of course.
SPEAKER_00I tell you this, when I went into the Hall of Fame of Dred Oak Hill, I did pull my headband out and I put it on. And I let him know. Yes. Coach, you didn't let me wear it, but I'm going in the Hall of Fame with it. So that was one. Um, and I did it later on in my pro career, and um, and I didn't wear it and I hurt myself, but whole nother story. That's why I gotta have it on.
SPEAKER_02You have to.
SPEAKER_00I got to.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_00We had one time that we all wore it, I think it was against Mississippi State, maybe my sophomore year. We came out at home and we shot horribly. I mean horribly. Dale Baker had just tore his, he broke his foot. And a lot of people were wearing it in honor of him, even though he didn't wear it. There was just a way to, you know, a black headband. We're wearing it for him. And we went in at halftime, and Coach Green said, take the headbands off. It's only one person that can wear a headband. And that's Ron Slay. I said, Coach, that's what I'm talking about, man. Everybody get these headbands off, man. Y'all running my inventory low. Adidas wasn't what they were doing then. Like they were running my inventory low. So, um, but that was that was the only time. Other than that, I always got the headband.
SPEAKER_03Yes, because there is no Ron Slay without the headband. We know that. Right. So is there a headband here with us today?
SPEAKER_00You know what? Sarah, y'all told me, Am I bringing a headband? And I got on Ashley about having a headband. I was like, does Superman wear a cake? Absolutely. Do babies poop in diapers? Absolutely. So I gotta look at my bag.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_00And see if I got a haircut.
SPEAKER_03Okay, I'm gonna give you a second. Okay, give me a second. We gotta bring it out if it's here.
SPEAKER_00Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, let me tell you the significance of this hairband, too. Not only is this the hairband, but the last time I put this hairband on, first of all, yeah.
SPEAKER_01That's how you come through. That's what I'm talking about. If I wouldn't have had this hairband, I would have been so much. That's good. That's good. Um, that was good.
SPEAKER_03Thank you.
SPEAKER_01I'm proud of you. That's A plus right there.
SPEAKER_02Thank you.
SPEAKER_00I love it, man. That's the real throwback. So this one, the last time I wore this, I was with Mike Keith. And I got inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame. So this is the headband. So I don't want y'all to think I'm running around with Rosslate 35 headbands.
SPEAKER_03But we wouldn't judge you if you would. Yeah, you know what I mean? So no. Ah, now it just feels right.
SPEAKER_00Oh, it's kind of like you can breathe.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Everything slows down. What was that movie Denzel was in? Um, you remember at the end where the bullets were shooting, and he was like, So when I put my headband, it's like I'm grabbing the bullets and everything's in slow motion.
SPEAKER_03Just we return to homeostasis. Yes. Yes.
SPEAKER_00I like it. Homeostasis. Homeostasis.
SPEAKER_03Yep, it's great.
SPEAKER_00We had a homeostasis now when the headbands arrive.
SPEAKER_03That's perfect.
SPEAKER_00Comfortable.
SPEAKER_03Now I feel like we can really continue with this podcast now that we're yeah back in the state.
SPEAKER_02So I have to ask.
SPEAKER_03Now, reflecting back on the four years that you had here at Tennessee, what do you remember about the kid that came in here bright out in bushytailed as a freshman and the man that left afterwards?
SPEAKER_00Man, I could really go through and see the different stages of maturing on and off the floor. One, when I got here full of energy, like we talked about with Midnight Madness, trying to leave my mark and an impact where people won't forget the energy was out the building all the time. And I remember my freshman year, I was in the gym, and Samika Randall was walking through the gym, and I think we had mayor played one or two exhibitions, and she was like, I hope you keep that energy up throughout throughout the season, you know what I mean? And I was thinking to myself, what do you mean? I'm like this all, like I'm this is me.
SPEAKER_02You know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_00So that always stayed ingrained in my mind. Like, how have you come in? Be that way all the time, if that's you. And I was like, that's that's easy to do. Freshman year, trying to find my spot. Like you said, buy into a role. Um, and I wanted to do anything coming off the bench. I wanted to take pride in being a sixth-man, seventh man, eighth man, whatever it was, but leave an impact on the game. Whatever it was, whether we need a rebounding, whether we need loose balls, whether we just need the energy of the crowd was dead, make up something to get the crowd into it. That was my role, my freshman year. Sophomore year, it evolved a little bit more. I got a little bit more time, started a couple of games, um, challenged for some spots. Um, my time increased, ended up making third team all SEC. I got stronger. Um, the game, working on it individual with my individual work was better than just running around like a pogo stick my freshman year. Um, junior year, I came into it with big aspirations. Um, me, Marcus H. Slip, and Vincent Yarbrough, we wanted to all be the first three to average 20 in the SEC. And we were on our way. Yeah. Um toward my ACL that year, and I remember then I was kind of getting the big head, and spiritually, it kind of grounded me and brought me back down. Um, there's a whole story that goes with that. But um after that, I saw what it was like to have everything diminished, taken away, whether it be from publications, whether it be from people um expecting things. It was just like, we don't know what's gonna happen when he comes back. Um and I and I took that and that fueled me. Um, being able to see Tamika Ketchins go through that, Jamal Lewis go through that, um, so many other people go through 20 ACLs and bounce back.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_00And that kind of bled into my senior year. And going into my senior year, I really approached everything like it was a business. Like I was all business. I even said, I told Coach Peterson at this time we had a coaching change, told Buzz Peterson, man, on the role games, everybody else can wear the team issue sweats. I'm wearing a suit. So I wore a suit every single role game, and that was just my way of this is business. I'm going to work. You know, and it led to some great things and great awards and accolades. And also they taught me, I had always had a leadership approach, but it I had to tone down the excitement, a little bit of the talking from the freshman year to the senior year, because more was expected. And I had to save my I had to save my breath a little bit more. But that was the other part. Being a um, it it turned me into a leader, showed me how to be a leader, um, watching people and thinking back on like how Al Wilson did it, being able to tap into Coach Summit, um Buzz, being able to give me tidbits, Coach Conroy. It was any anything that I could get around. You know what I mean? I would I would tap into a Coach Former, anybody that I would listen to. And that kind of that kind of helped spearhead me go on after that.
SPEAKER_03Well, you know, just a couple things about winning here at the University of Tennessee. To see where this program is now, to see what Rick Barnes has built here, what stands out to you the most about Tennessee basketball where it is today?
SPEAKER_00Consistency. Consistently being in the top um 15, top 10 um in college basketball. Every time college basketball comes up, you gotta be mentioned.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_00Like that right there, that's what we were striving for coming in. We're trying to, you know, the Bernard King era, Ernie and Grumfield, Ernie Grumfield, and all of them, they did that. They knocked down the doors, Tony White, all of them, but then we had a drought, you know, and then became Alan Houston tried to do it, you know, and he he did, him and Wade Houston did a great job, but it wasn't consistent. You know, you have some ups, some downs, some ups, some downs. And it was the same thing during my years, you know, and Bruce Pearl came and you know, the coaching, coaching carousel started for us, but with Coach Barnes being here, being able to establish, man, that consistency and having an identity that you're gonna see every single time they get on the floor, that right there, uh, you get to poke your chest out. You know, yeah, this is not a blue blood program or anything like that, but this is one I promise you, every blue blood program in America is gonna scratch their head and get in their scouting report when they come to town.
SPEAKER_03They respect Tennessee.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. Absolutely. And respect is earned. And they went out there and earned it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00From the Jordan Bones all the way to the Kai Ziggler's, Kennedy Chandler's, Keon Johnson, Jaden Springer, Grant Williams, Aramisco. We can go, see, we can go on and on. Right. And this is different eras.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_00That's the most important thing. That's what lies in the consistency, in the fabric of it. You got core pieces that have been here. And with him being here, like even with the coaching changes he has, what doesn't change is the philosophy, the blueprint, the foundation. Never changes.
SPEAKER_03What would it have been like to be a player under Coach Barnes? Would you two have been like button head? Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, about it. You better believe it. You know, me and me and Coach Barnes early, no question about it.
SPEAKER_00I know some of the guys that played for him, good friends with him that played for him in Texas. And we we had them conversations all the time. But I will say one thing that I think would have brought us to even keel is one, I would have been tired of probably running the stadium stairs. That would probably probably be a versatile climb and all that. Yeah, that probably would have broke me a little bit. You know what I mean? The second part is though, the care. The care that he had. You know, um, all through high school, I had coaches that you really had a relationship with that I still talk to to this day coming out. Us and Coach Green, my first two years, he was a great coach, but we didn't have that bond. When practice was over, that was it. Me and Coach Peterson formed that a little bit, but I told my ACL, my junior year, senior year, we picked it up, but I didn't get to get that longevity of it over the over the years. So, um, but to be able to have that and you see that from your freshman year on, that's different. So if it's somebody showing love to you, caring about your well-being, and they really want to get you to whatever that next level is for you, you buy in. You run through a wall for them. Anyone that cares, this is your mom, dad, uncle, mentors, all of these, that's why they all kind of go into the same bowl. And him being that guy, like you can see it. As a fan, um, as a former player, I think you see the love that he shares. That's the biggest thing, man. Like, he's gonna get on you, but he's getting on you because he's trying to get something out of you.
SPEAKER_03Yes. As a former player, how much pride do you take too in now being able to see Tennessee consistently compete for national championships?
SPEAKER_00Love it. Love it. They like so being able to be on ESPN and SEC Network, they they like to say I'm a homer. And I say, You damn right. I absolutely am because y'all won't mention it enough. You know what I'm saying? So that's that's part of it.
SPEAKER_03Someone's gotta do it.
SPEAKER_01Come on, man. I'm not gonna let y'all forget. You must be crazy.
SPEAKER_00Uh-uh. So I think um, I think that right there, um, you wear it with a uh a different pride when you walk through and you have the conversation. It's not about, man, yeah, we we we were pretty, we were pretty good. We had Don Connect. He was he was solid. No, man. Tennessee, we had teams. You know what I'm saying? From the team aspect, every one of them can hold their own torch and run with it. And you got people willing to follow. I think that's the biggest part, being in the championship conversations year in and year out. Um, it's not a lot they can do that, especially in the evolving um climate that basketball, college sports in general is in.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_00So, yeah.
SPEAKER_03When you walk back into Food Safety Center, Thompson Bowling Arena, what feels the same, but what now maybe also feels a little bit different?
SPEAKER_00Um the curtains. That's first and foremost. Ain't no curtains up there no more. They got sky boxes and all kind of stuff. And that honestly, man, that was where that was um, that was our goal. Um, and the guys before us remember them saying, hey man, we started the season, and you know how they do the the um hype videos and everything. We came out and did the hype videos, and I remember the the upper classmen saying, Hey, by the time we get to SEC season, y'all gonna be gonna snatch these curtains down. And they had to snatch them down. We were that exciting, you know? So that's first and foremost, that right there. Um, I love the the fan experience. Yes. The students on both ends in the end zone, like that's oh whoo! And there's no chairs right. I probably would have been running all up in the stands. There's delay of games. I don't even know if you can get a delay of game, but I would have got one. Um that that that right there, the um the locker room, how they've um renovated everything. Um it's it's a different experience. It's it's a real college basketball experience that you have to come and see.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Oh my gosh, there's nothing like it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03By the time SEC play starts, I mean, not even because those fans will get in there for any non-conference game just to get a look at these guys. When something's just different when we get into SEC play and then I'm excited already, and it's September. Maybe I gotta chill. Um, but we know how much you love Tennessee. Forever and always, you bleed Orin. Where does that pride come from in the commitment to always be representing Tennessee wherever you are?
SPEAKER_00One is loyalty. Um, loyal to my state, um, and always been a representation of that. I think that right there, and then having a backing like we have at Tennessee behind you. You know, if you out there giving your all for Tennessee and you turn around and you got all these crazy Tennessee fans representing and pushing along for you, that I mean, that's that says a little something different, you know. And um, I I feel like it's not many out there with voices to let people know how we feel about our program, our athletics, our school. Um, and if I get the opportunity to do it, I'm telling everybody. That's just that's just a part of it. That's the pride because I saw it. I saw what it was like before we got to this point. So man, them years right there in the 90s, late 90s, early 2000s, like it was sheesh. It was it was different. And it was different out of season, like in the summertime. Like people weren't going home. Like it was a whole different, it was, hey man, I can't explain it. It did something to me, it tapped into me. So I'm loyal to a fault, um, the dedication, um, and and I always say, man, it gave you, especially in this climate, that a lot of people not gonna get, it gave you home. It gave you home. And I've been all over the world, 14 seasons overseas, having to play over there, man. I can always come back to home base. Even during the transition from playing pro to trying to figure out what I'm gonna do was able to stabilize me, was being able to come back here and finish my degree. So while trying to figure that out, I didn't just have to be out there in the world roaming, like, okay, let me try this, try this, try that. Let me go to school, figure it out, continue networking, picking up the phone, people being accepting, willing to answer. It um, you don't get that everywhere. Because I remember having conversations with people that I played with overseas and everything, and they be like, Man, y'all did all that at y'all's school. And I'm thinking, y'all didn't do that at y'all school.
SPEAKER_02What were y'all doing?
SPEAKER_00Y'all lost the experience. I had a whole different experience than y'all. So yeah, Tennessee is different. I got a tat it on me. I got the checkerboard T.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Right there, man. That's how much it means to me.
SPEAKER_03The power tea, it opens doors for you. Yeah. Yeah. When you wear that and there's that connection, whether you're you're halfway across the world at the airport, wherever, there's a connection there and the doors will open.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. To your point. Yeah, and I can't never understand any kid that's grown up or lived here or moved or migrated to the state of Tennessee and you don't go to the University of Tennessee, I can't figure it out. I don't know what leadership. I don't know who the mentor is or what, but it just don't make sense to me because not only does it open doors for you, you leave in good standing and you did what you're supposed to do, it opened doors for your family. I'm the oldest of 13. My brother Ramon Foster went here. It's the same thing. He let it in football. Like, went on, played for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Still able to come back and do what he does, and it's always open arms. But it's like that for your family. It's okay for me to pick up the phone. Hey, Miss Janet, down in the basketball. Miss Janet, man, my my little sister about to come up there, man. You think you can look out for? Oh, absolutely. Tell her come by. It's family. Everybody don't got family. So once you leave as a university student, athlete, that VFL is a little bit different.
SPEAKER_03No, and no one can take it away either.
SPEAKER_00No, no, I wish they would.
SPEAKER_03I'd like to see them try.
SPEAKER_00I promise you. Please.
SPEAKER_03Well, there are so many great slay moments, and follow me here as we go through a couple of them because it's what makes you you. And when I come full circle, you'll understand. Because I think of like the moment with you and listen, love for dearly, love for dearly, don't want to get that headband. Nothing was gonna take you down. Did not matter what the bottom of those shoes had seen that day. You were not going down, right? I can't even count the amount of behind-the-scenes videos too of buzzer beaters, you know, the final moments of Tennessee games. You're running around in the Senate. But the one that gets me wrong came this year, back in March.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_03The ring camera video was probably the most iconic hype speech I have ever heard. And I'll still play it. I should honestly make it into a ring at this point. Talk me through that. And where and what got you so amped up in that moment that you just had to tell the world, and by the world I mean your front door, all about Tennessee basketball.
SPEAKER_00Listen, it's it's one of them, it's one of them situations. First of all, nothing is ever planned out. Like I've had people call me and be like, hey man, make a video about this. I'm like, it don't work like that. Like I gotta feel it, it gotta be organic, and it just happens. I was actually sitting in my living room watching the game, and I'm like, oh, we we coming. We here. Now I don't think they really understand that we're here. And I was like, we gotta make them recognize that we're here. So and I was like, you know what? Let me go outside, man, hit this ring cam real quick and let the people know that we knocking. And we coming like you've been hearing it. Like that's been the knock to Coach Barnes, to the program. We can't get over the hump. Well, guess what? You can't get over the hump until you get to the door. Y'all gotta let us in now. And I was just trying to let the world know we're coming. It's been back to back to back Elite Eights.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_00That final four. We at the door. We gotta get in. If y'all don't let us in, we coming around back. That's what's the next video gonna be back. I got the ring camera back. Y'all didn't let us do the front door.
SPEAKER_01I'm around back now. I'm still knocking. If that don't work, guess what? I'm gonna go hit one of them windows.
SPEAKER_00We coming in. I promise you. You can't hold us out for long. And that's all it was. Just to let the people know, man, we're here. You know what I mean? Y'all can have all the conversations you want to, but you will not have a conversation without us being in that room.
SPEAKER_03No.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_03Period. I don't even need to expand on that. You said it all for me.
SPEAKER_02That's that. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03For you now, with all that you've done professionally in your career, going and playing ball overseas, like you mentioned, now being an SEC analyst, having the radio show. How much fun do you get to have talking sports, talking Tennessee sports? Like, this has got to be the dream job for you.
SPEAKER_00This is it. I love it. I love it. Being able to listen, tap back into the game, um, be able to talk about one of my first loves was football. Um, and I think that was also the mouth to the flame here. You know, my friends, Buck Fisher, John Henderson, all those guys coming up and playing football. I was like, man, I gotta go up and play basketball. And then you get up here and you're around guys that's just like you. I'm like, oh, this it, this one, this is what I'm supposed to be. So uh being able to tap into that, and I've always had the gift of gab. That's what they tell me. So yeah, you know, and be able to talk a little bit and kind of, you know, um be cool with if you're making fun of yourself or if you're spilling your truth. As long as you got something to back it up and you feel like people are behind you, give me the mic. Right. Give me the stage, put the lights on. Let's go do it. So that's another way, man, to express myself, be able to release. Um, so I'm not as wild at home. I can be a husband, I can be a dad, you know, and just be cool. But man, you turn them lights on and it's showtime. It is showtime. And I and we get to I get to spread that during basketball season, um, doing the radio with the zone in Nashville with 3HL, and I who else knows what's coming?
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Who else knows what's coming?
SPEAKER_03Oh yeah, big things.
SPEAKER_00I'm here for it.
SPEAKER_03Oh yeah. Now you do have your podcast, the Boom Boom Room, right? When you're on the other side, when we switch seats, who's been your favorite guest that you've gotten the chance to interview?
SPEAKER_00Ooh. My favorite guest on the Boom Boom Room. Um, I had a I had a um chance to interview one of my one of my friends um there from high school, Santonio Beard. He went to University of Alabama. He was supposed to come here. He did some funny stuff and whatever it is, you know what I mean? But he went down there and had a good career. I was able to uh interview him. He was tragically uh killed. Um, and I always get to look back on his interview. That was one of my favorites. Um I like when guys finally get on that platform and they tell how they feel about their past, you know what I'm saying, the obstacles they had to overcome and where they feel in rankings or whatever it may be. That was one Shamika Holesclaw, I gotta give her love every single time. Just for the simple fact, we had a two-hour conversation the night before the Boom Boom Room ever came into existence as far as a podcast. Okay. And at the end of the night, this was when COVID was happening. I was like, man, we should have made this a podcast, man. She was like, You, let's do it tomorrow. I'm like, you know what, me?
SPEAKER_01Let's do it tomorrow.
SPEAKER_00You know what I mean? So she kicked it off, man, and she was transparent. Um, that was one of my favorites, and my other favorite was John Henderson. John Henderson, um, who everybody knows, he went into the uh College Football Hall of Fame, and he talked about um real life moments um being in the closet. Y'all gotta go listen to the pod. In the closet with the pistol and thinking about killing himself and taking his life. Just being in that transition where he was at the time, and you get conversations like that. You know, you get the real conversations. Yeah, you talk about sports, but I I want to use the boom boom room as more of a the transition from your life of pro or sports back to reality. Because it's so much more in that journey that a lot of people don't know, that they think going they're going through by themselves, and it's other people that walked that same, that same steps. Yeah, you just haven't heard it. So I think that's that's one of the biggest things, one of my faves.
SPEAKER_03I also can relate in a lot of ways because I feel like one of my biggest passions in this is being able to create a safe space for people to share their stories, and it seems like that's the same type of experience that you enjoy giving to your guests is that safe space, but then also amplifying their voices, amplifying their stories, like helping them work through something that they've not been able to. It's amazing. Yep. And I love that. And I love that that's also the messaging behind like what you're doing. It's so amazing.
SPEAKER_02Of course.
SPEAKER_03Um, I haven't personally been able to congratulate you on your induction into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame last year, but congratulations, what an incredible honor, what an incredible class that you were also inducted with. What did that mean to you to be able to be cemented that way?
SPEAKER_00It meant the world. Um, like I said at the beginning, man, I'm a Tennessee mutt. Like I was born in Memphis, uh, moved to Chattanooga with my grandparents, um, was raised there, um, and then moved back to Nashville with my mom, and like that kind of birthed me. And then I went to school in East Tennessee, like a Bit up from Chattanooga in Knoxville. So all of that right there was um kind of like a full circle moment, you know what I mean? To go into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame with the people that you went into it with, um, I was like, wow, this is pretty dope. Like, I've always wanted to represent the state. And that was like one of those moments when you, when the checkpoints, you'd be like, if you sit back, after I sat back and looked at it, I was like, dang, I did something. Yes. I did something. I did represent it well, you know. Um, and I think also that's not only in sports, but I think to get into one of those rooms, you gotta be in good standing. And so with all the obstacles um that may I grew up with or whatever it may be, um there there was no stopping. And that kind of fueled to get to that moment to be like, okay, take a deep breath, enjoy this one for a minute. Now let's see where we're going. But that right there is look back on it. That was pretty cool.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Pretty cool journey.
SPEAKER_03I'm sure as an athlete too, it's hard to stop and enjoy and even give yourself a pat on the back for a moment like that. But that was one that you were truly able to sit in and just reflect, like, wow, to think of all that we've been through, all we've been able to accomplish, it all led to this. Yeah. And I should enjoy it for a little bit.
SPEAKER_00No, absolutely. And then being able to, um, Brad Willis and Mike Keefe, they they let me go last. I guess they thought I was gonna be long-winded or something. Who knows? Who?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, what you please.
SPEAKER_00So, but that was the other part. To be able to go in with a a guy, and he won't say it, but the statue of Mike Keefe, he's a staple in the state of Tennessee. And to be inducted with him bringing me up, like that meant a whole, whole lot. Like, because I, man, it's it's plenty of times, like Mike probably don't like it, but I'm like, man, I'll text him and be like, Mike, what you think about this? Which, you know, trying to get some broadcast info or some some nuggets to take with you, and he's always willing to answer, pick up the phone, send a text back, even with his crazy schedule. Um, and to be able to go into it and be inducted by him, that was that was a hell of a feeling.
SPEAKER_03What do you remember about when you found out the news?
SPEAKER_00It was crazy. They they um surprised me at the radio station on air live. And I'm like, and I can't, I had I ordered some food and I needed to go to the bathroom, but they wouldn't let me go to the bathroom. I'm like, dude, what's going on? And as soon as I was, we were about to go to break, Ramon Ramon, my brother, walks in and I'm like, Savage, what you doing here early? Like, like you ain't even supposed to be there. You already did your show. Like, what are you doing here? And he started talking. Then I saw he had like a mic on. I'm like, oh, this is weird. What the hell is going on? So um he came in and got on the mic and was telling me Brad Willis had something to say. And so once he um, when Brad came in, all of my family and friends, wife, kids, everybody came in. I'm like, oh, y'all got me. Y'all got old coaches. Hey man, it was it was pretty cool, man. Uh that was uh that was one of them tearjerker moments. They almost got me. Uh almost got me to share the tear on on live radio, streaming at the time. But that was really, really cool for my brother to do it, for the people in that room to be there. It was a lot of representation of different people along my journey at different phases from mentors to coaches to friends, family, so much more that was that was in a room. It was made it real special.
SPEAKER_03SEC Player of the Year, an all-American, SEC legend, Tennessee All-Century team, Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame. The list goes on and on and on. That's just you know, that's just playing. Then there's also like father, husband, um uh friend, brother, like all these things. Yeah. What are you the most proud of when you think of the legacy that you've been able to create as Ron Slay?
SPEAKER_00I'm I'm big on impact. That's my thing. Well, regardless of whatever room, sports venue, whatever it is, when you leave, I want them to be talking about it. Like, man, dude was cool, man. Like he seemed like one of us. Whatever one of us is, I want them to be able to say, like, dah, that I felt like I was talking to a friend of mine, you know, and that's one of the biggest things, leaving an impact and uh making people feel included. You know, regardless if it's the person that's looked at as the star or the person that was backstage sweeping after everybody left. Like, make everybody feel like they're part of this. You know what I'm saying? Whether that's my journey, whether that's their journey, what they're in, um that's it, being being a soundboard, impact. Yeah, that's it's pretty cool.
SPEAKER_03As the self-proclaimed Tennessee Mutt, when you look back on your journey, what has Tennessee meant to Ron Slay?
SPEAKER_00Man. I think man, what what Tennessee has meant to me. I would have to say I had to go back to family. I had to go back to family, like it. You could put it all in a capsule of being able to come back here like um not only the state, the school, um a representation of everyone. Like I everywhere I go. That's I represent it. That's how much it means to me. Tennessee is family. Like you can't get this nowhere else. And I think one thing you hear from everybody, successful, unsuccessful, whatever it is, that's had a piece of it, they all say it. From rest in peace to Dolly, like that's what it that's what it was. Outstretched arms, welcoming you in. Coach Summit. You know what I'm saying? All of these successful greats, Peyton, you know, Coach Former. Um, man, the list goes on and on, Coach Barnes now. Um, from the coaches that were here that that wasn't um maybe as successful with a longer tenure, Cunzo Martins, you know what I mean? The people like that, like everybody. Everybody is family, and it never leaves. It never leaves, and that's special, man. That's special. To be away for so long, playing ball overseas or whatever it may be, and to come back and like you don't feel like you missed a beat, you pick right up. Like, I can go to the football complex, look for Hulk, and be like, hey, Hulk, wait, you know, what you doing? Frase, what's up? What's up, Frase? You know, like that's different. And I feel like that's open for everybody that's out of peace of Tennessee.
SPEAKER_03On the flip side, when people think of Ron Slay, what do you want people to know you as or remember you as?
SPEAKER_00Um lighting up the room. Um a fun time. A fun time. Um, whether it's um a dark moment, the lightest moment, whatever it is, like you had a time. You had a time. And you felt like that was your brother, like you done known me forever. When you walked away, I wanted to be like, man, dude right there, that was that's a special dude right there. I might can't put my finger on it right now, but it's something about that guy. Something about him, you know. Um yeah, and feel the love, man. Feel the love, man. And hope, I hope everybody that walks away from me and remembers. Um, golly, you can do anything. And it's gonna be some rough times. But boy, you're gonna come out. If you smile, you just keep smiling. It's gonna be even when you're crying, smile. It's gonna be all right. It's gonna be all right.
SPEAKER_03Well, man, this room has been lit up. We love you here at Tennessee. I have so enjoyed getting to talk with you. It feels like I've known you, just being able to sit down and listen to your stories because, like you said earlier, like you make people feel seen and welcome and heard. And it's just been such a joy, truly, to have you on the podcast today. I can't wait for fans to listen to this and get to hear more from you. Um, but thanks for the time. And I hope you enjoy your weekend on Rocky Top. And uh, I'm sure we'll see you back here real soon.
SPEAKER_00I appreciate it. Thank y'all for having me. Shout out to my mama too, because my mama, that's where I get it from. I'm gonna throw that out there. And everybody up here Noah, the one that had to move up the stands a little bit because she was getting on the reps. But yeah, man, that's that's what it's about. We need a um a headband in this. You know what? Kind of got a Christmas though.
SPEAKER_03And I think this is not gonna leave the podcast studio now. I think I'm gonna make it a permanent piece of the podcast studio. Yes, never be forgotten, and we're just gonna remember it.
SPEAKER_00Thanks so much for the biggest.
SPEAKER_03Thanks so much, y'all, for tuning in to another episode of the Everything Orange podcast presented by First Horizon Bank. I truly don't know who had more fun on this episode, me or Ron Either Way. I hope you all had just as much fun at home watching and listening to this podcast. So, with that being said, make sure to keep up with us on all of our social platforms as well as at utsports.com for all the latest information on Tennessee Athletics. And with that, we will see you next time. Bye mum.