By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Nobody has to tell new Topeka High girls basketball coach Ron Slaymaker how old he is.
But the 87-year-old Kansas basketball legend said he's never lost his love for the game and or his enthusiam to help young people -- two things that drew him to the Trojan coaching vacancy.
Ron Slaymaker, whose career in basketball has spanned more than six decades, including his most recent stint with the Olpe girls, is the new Topeka High girls basketball coach. [Photo by Jenny Schmidt for KSHSAA Covered]
New Topeka High girls basketball coach Ron Slaymaker won 463 games during a storied Hall of Fame coaching career at Emporia State. [Photo courtesy of Emporia State Athletics]
Fresh off a three-year stint with the Olpe girls, including back-to-back state tournament appearances, Slaymaker takes over at Topeka High, pending approval by the USD 501 school board.
"I've got the age, but along with it goes wisdom and I feel like I've got the energy,'' Slaymaker told TopSports.news. "Energy in coaching is a big major issue and I've still got the energy. I don't walk very good, but I've got the energy and I've got the interest and I love a challenge.
"I think this will be a challenge and I think a good challenge because I think it's a good thing waiting to happen. I am excited about it.''
Slaymaker is best known for his long career with the Emporia State men's basketball program, finishing his 28-year career in 1998 with 463 wins, a national coach of the year honor in 1986 (31-5), six NAIA District 10 Coach of the Year awards, five Central States Intercollegiate Conference championships, four District 10 titles and four appearances in the NAIA National Tournament.
Ron Slaymaker (right) chats with former Kansas and North Carolina head coach Roy Williams before a game during Slaymaker's long tenure at Emporia State. [Photo courtesy of Emporia State Athletics]
In 1987, Emporia State inducted him into its Athletic Hall of Honor, while Slaymaker is also a member of the Kansas Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame (1997), the NAIA Hall of Fame (2000) and the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame (2002).
On Feb. 28, 2013 Emporia State re-named the White Auditorium court in Slaymaker's honor.
After retiring from ESU, Slaymaker put together a lengthy career as an official before hip replacement surgery forced him off the court. He eventually returned to coaching as the girls coach at Chase County when the Bulldogs needed a coach after the school year had already begun.
"I really kind of bailed them out and they gave me something to do when I thought I wasn't going to be able to referee,'' Slaymaker said. "I was only going to do it one year and wound up doing it seven years. I really just kind of fell in love with coaching the girls. They were a joy to be around.
"When you're talking about coaching and teaching, it's young people growing and, God, that excites me. It's one of my major motivations.''
Slaymaker led the Bulldogs to 19 wins in his first season, including an appearance in the 2015 State Class 2A state tournament.
In his second season at Chase County Slaymaker coached his 1,000th game as a head coach, a 44-35 victory over Herington and the Bulldogs also advanced to the state tournament in 2017.
Slaymaker led Chase County to an 18-3 record in 2018-19 and he coached for two more seasons before retiring from that post in 2021.
Slaymaker has coached Olpe the past three seasons after taking over for the legendary Jesse Nelson, who was Slaymaker's first recruit with the Hornets and also coached with Slaymaker for a year.
Slaymaker, the longtime commissioner of the Lyon County League, was approached about helping Olpe find a successor for Nelson. And when no workable candidates surrfaced, Slaymaker eventually took on the position.
"Nobody was interested (in replacing Nelson, a former national coach of the year) and we kept looking and we kept looking and the middle of October they still didn't have a girls coach at Olpe,'' Slaymaker said. "So I raised my hand. I thought, 'I could do that.' ''
After a tough first season (8-15), Slaymaker led the Eagles to back-to-back Class 1A-Division I state tournament appearances in 2023 and 2024. Slaymaker, widely known as Slay, committed to Olpe for three seasons and submitted his resignation at the end of the recent season.
Enter Topeka High.
Slaymaker was contacted by longtime basketball official and Centennial League commissioner John Moore, who was contacting people to gauge their interest in the open position.
"I had just that day turned in my letter of resignation, so just being a smart aleck, off the top of my head, I just flipped it right back at him and I said, 'Well, I'm available.' I'm not sure I was really serious, but the next day I got a call from Dustin Dick (Topeka High principal).''
Slaymaker, who still lives in Emporia, will be able to live in Topeka during the season while house-sitting for a close friend.
Slaymaker takes over a Topeka High girls team that posted a 5-15 record last season with a roster loaded with freshmen and sophomores and Slaymaker is the Trojans' third coach in four years.
Hannah Alexander accepted the Andover coaching job following the 2021-2022 season after a strong run at Topeka High that included a pair of runnerup finishes in Class 6A. Alexander was replaced by Topeka High alum Brittney Redmond, who was relieved of her duties in late January of her second season at the helm for undisclosed reasons.
Slaymaker was scheduled to meet with the Topeka High team Monday afternoon.
"I hope I can get them excited and kind of get something going for summer time,'' Slaymaker said. "I'm really excited.''
