By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Eighty-nine year-old Kansas coaching legend Ron Slaymaker has stepped down after two seasons as the girls basketball coach at Topeka High, including a Centennial League title and a trip to the Class 6A state tournament this past season.
Kansas coaching legend Ron Slaymaker has stepped down as Topeka High's girls basketball coach after leading the Trojans to back-to-back winning seasons in his two years at the school. [File photo/TSN]
Slaymaker had confirmed to TopSports.news several months ago that the 2025-2026 season would be his last, but declined to make that decision public, wanting the focus to remain on the Trojans throughout the season.
But after Topeka High's season ended Tuesday night with a 61-58 Class 6A state quarterfinal loss to Derby in Wichita, Slaymaker met with Topeka High principal Dustin Dick on Wednesday morning and with his team Wednesday afternoon to officially inform them of his retirement.
Slaymaker discussed his decision to step down Wednesday night while watching the Class 3A girls state tournament at White Auditorium, where the court is named in his honor.
"I explained to the girls, my old body is just wearing out,'' Slaymaker said. "My mind's still OK, I think, but my body just doesn't function.
"It's been two good years, and I feel good about it. Man, we could have won that game against Derby.''
Slaymaker, who led Topeka High to a 31-17 record in his two seasons at the school, is hopeful that the Trojans will also remember the past two years fondly.
"What I learned is that maybe five to 10 years from now that those girls will think of this pretty good,'' Slaymaker said. "Sometimes you look at a 17-year-old, 16-year-old and they're not grasping everything, but give them a little time and they will.''
Slaymaker was named TopSports.news' Shawnee County girls coach of the year in 2025 after guiding the Trojans to a 14-8 record and a nine-win improvement in 2024-2025.
Slaymaker's Topeka High team followed that up with a 17-9 record this past winter, overcoming an 0-4 start to win the Centennial League championship and earn the school's first trip to the state tournament since 2022.
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 and later at Olpe.
