Jason Slay is in his fifth season as an assistant coach on the Youngstown State men’s basketball staff.
Last season, Slay helped the Penguins to thier second straight winning season by posting a 15-12 overall record. It marked the first consecutive winnings season since the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons.
The Penguins continued its strong play at home by winning 10 games at the Beeghly Center. YSU averaged 76.6 points and 13.1 assists per game at home. Since Feb. 7, 2019, the Penguins own a home court record of 27-9.
He was instrumental in the develoment of freshman Shemar Rathan-Mayes, who was named to the Horizon League All-Freshman Team. Rathan-Mayes, who started 22 games, averaged 10.4 points and 3.5 assists per game and shot 82.4 percent from the free-throw line last season. He ranked third in the league in free-throw percentage and 11th in assists per game. He scored in double figures 15 times.
In 2019-20, Slay helped the Penguins to one the most historic seasons in the prgram's Division I history. YSU finished the season with an overall record of 18-15 and placed fourth in the Horizon League with a 10-8 league mark. The Penguins' 18 wins were the most since 2012-13 and ranked tied for the fourth most in YSU's Division I era. The 10 league wins tied a school record for most wins in Horizon League play. YSU's 17 regular season wins were the most since 2000-01 and the most since joining the Horizon League.
Youngstown State went 13-3 at the Beeghly Center and set a Division I mark for most wins at home. The Penguins averaged 76.9 points and 14.6 assists per game at Beeghly Center.
For just the second time in history the Penguins accepted a Division I postseason berth to the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic the tournament was canceled.
Darius Quisenberry was named to the NABC All-District 12 Second-Team and the All-Horizon League First-Team. He averaged 16.6 points, 3.6 rebounds 4.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game. He also ranked fifth in the Horizon League in scoring and assists per game, fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.5), sixth in field-goal percentage (.422), steals per game and free-throw percentage (.792), and 13th with 1.5 3-pointers made per game. He became the fourth YSU Division I player to score at least 40 points in a game and his career-high 41 points against Wright State on Feb. 20 rank as the sixth-highest single-game total. Quisenberry is the first player in school history to earn all-league honors in his first two seasons.
Naz Bohannon posted a career-best 11.2 points per game and averaged 8.6 rebounds per game, which ranked third in the Horizon League. He shot 51.7 percent from the field and averaged 12.9 points and 8.9 rebounds per game against Horizon League opponents. Bohannon's 284 rebounds were the third most in YSU's Division I history and the most since Jerome Sims had 327 in 1991-92. He also grabbed seven double-doubles on the year.
For the second straight year, junior Garrett Covington was named to the Horizon League All-Defensive Team. He is just the third YSU player to earn consecutive all-defensive team honors. He also averaged 8.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game in 2019-20.
In 2018-19, Slay helped the Penguins to a four-win improvement from the 2017-18 season and posted the second-most wins in Horizon league play since joining the conference in 2001-02. The Penguins also set the school record for most 3-pointers made in a season with 303 and scored at least 2,000 points for the 10th straight season. The Penguins scored 2,415 points in 2018-19, which ranks fifth in program history.
For the first time in 20 years, the Penguins won six straight games, which set a YSU record for conecutive wins in the Horizon League, from Jan. 31 to Feb. 16.
Darius Quisenberry became the first Youngstown State freshman to earn all-conference honors when he was selected to the All-Horizon League Second-Team. He was also named to the Horizon League All-Freshmen Team. Quisenberry led the Penguins with 13.8 points per game and had 120 assists. He became the first YSU freshman to score at least 400 points since 1978-79 and set the school record 3-point record with 51 made 3s.
Naz Bohannon reached a milestone by grabbing the 500th rebound of his career and finishing with 8.3 rebounds per game, which ranked second in the Horizon League.
During the 2017-18 season, the Penguins set a school record with 266 steals, breaking the 27-year-old record of 255 set in 1990-91. Youngstown State also scored 2,410 points, which rank fifth on the single-season scoring list and is just the fifth time in school history a YSU team has scored more than 2,400 points in a season.
Cameron Morse, who averaged 15.4 points per game game, became just the second YSU player to earn All-Horizon League honors in three consecutive season after being named to the all-league second-team in 2017-18. Morse ended his career with 1,913 career points, which ranked sixth all-time, and tied the school record for career 3-pointers made with 232.
Prior to joining YSU, Slay spent two seasons at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) from 2015-17. In 2016-17, he mentored QJ Peterson, a 2017 All-Southern Conference First-Team selection by the media and a coaches’ second-team all-conference pick.
Slay spent the 2014-15 season at East Tennessee State, and served as an assistant coach at Tennessee State University in 2013-14. He was the Director of Basketball Operations at Georgia Southern 2012-13.
Prior to working in the college ranks, Slay was the top assistant coach at Hargrave Military Academy where he coached 10 players that signed national letters of intent to Division I programs. He also served as the team’s director of individual development and summer training and the Tigers finished with a 38-8 record and made the National Prep Showcase Elite 8 in 2012-13.
Slay also coached four years (2008-2012) at West Virginia State serving as associate head coach and recruiting coordinator, and was a part of two West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships.
As a college player at West Virginia State, Slay was a four-time captain and two-year starter and helped guide his team to the NCAA Division II Sweet 16 in 2004, 2006, and 2007.
Slay’s family has deep basketball ties. His older brother Tamar played at Marshall and in the NBA for the New Jersey Nets after being drafted in the second round. His cousin, Ron, also played for Tennessee and made a trip to the Sweet 16 as a freshman in 2000.
He received his undergraduate degree in General Education from West Virginia State in 2008. Jason and his wife, Brittany, were married in August of 2020.
