USF Athletics

Jason Slay was named assistant coach on July 2, 2021, after serving as the associate head coach at Youngstown State for the past four seasons.

During his first season at South Florida in 2021-22, Slay helped further the development of sophomore standout Caleb Murphy and fifth-year transfer senior Javon Greene - the duo who led the Bulls in scoring. While that tandem shined offensively, USF also ranked second in the AAC and 45th in the NCAA in scoring defense (64.9 ppg). Greene led the AAC and ranked 54th nationally in steals/game (1.9).

In 2020-21, Youngstown State posted its second straight winning season (15-12), marking the program’s first consecutive winnings season since the 2011-12 and 2012-13 campaigns.

In 2019-20, Slay helped the Penguins to one the most historic seasons in the program’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.

For just the second time in history, Youngstown State accepted a Division I postseason berth to the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament, but the tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Slay helped in the development of Darius Quisenberry, who became the first Youngstown State freshman to earn all-conference honors in 2018-19 when he was selected to the All-Horizon League Second-Team. He was also named to the Horizon League All-Freshmen Team. Quisenberry would go on to become the first player in program history to earn all-league honors in his first two seasons.

In 2017-18, Youngstown State set a new program record with 266 steals, breaking the 27-year-old record of 255 set in 1990-91. The Penguins 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.

Prior to Youngstown State, Slay had successful stints as an assistant coach at the Virginia Military Institute (2015-17), East Tennessee State (2014-15), Tennessee State University (2013-14) and as the director of basketball operations at Georgia Southern (2012-13). Slay also spent time as the top assistant coach at Hargrave Military Academy prior to joining the collegiate ranks. 

As a player, Slay was a four-time captain and two-year starter at West Virginia State University where he 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, welcomed their daughter, Kaylyn, on February 9, 2022.