Real-life hard times: Ron Slay alive and well in the NBDL

But first Ron Slay asked for the public-address microphone.

"I want to thank all the fans for coming out,'' he announced. "And I hope you'll come back tomorrow because we are going to win tonight.''

Slay really didn't need the microphone. A head count Monday night revealed only 57 fans in the Asheville Civic Center stands during the national anthem.

Welcome to life in the "D" league, officially known as the NBDL, the developmental league operated by the NBA.

Flash back a few years to the University of Tennessee locker room. Times were good. Wins came in bunches, and so did the scouts. The Vols' national profile was high, but not as high as the dreams of the players.

Big money and bright lights in the NBA were just around the corner.

"Oh, yeah,'' Slay recalled with a laugh this week. "I don't think there was a doubt in anybody's mind.''

And the "D" league?

"Oh, no,'' said Slay. "We was laughing at that. That was comic. That wasn't nothing.''

There's nothing comic about it now.

Of the Vols who played on those four consecutive NCAA tournament teams 1998-2001, at least a half dozen counted on cashing the big NBA checks.

The reality, though, was that only two - so far - have, and they're both out of the league.

Marcus Haislip got lottery money in 2002 as the 13th pick of the draft. After two years in Milwaukee, he was waived in November, played a month with Indiana and was waived again on Dec. 24.

Vincent Yarbrough also was drafted in 2002, by Denver. After one year with the Nuggets, he was waived.

Yarbrough played in Italy last season. He moved to Belgium this year, but was injured in December and hasn't played since.

Slay was the SEC's player of the year in 2002-03, but was not drafted. He played last season in Turkey, with a brief detour to Venezuela.

This season, he came home to try the NBDL.

"When you sign overseas,'' he said, "they tell you you're going to get exposure, that there's going to be scouts.

"They tell you that, but you might have a scout once a year.''

Isiah Victor also came home to the "D" league, after two years in France and one in South Korea. Victor, who plays for Roanoke, is the NBDL's No. 2 scorer at 17.7 points a game.

Charles Hathaway, C.J. Black and Tony Harris have knocked around in the obscure world of minor-league and overseas ball.

Black and Jon Higgins, who briefly tried Europe, came back to school and finished their degrees.

Rashard Lee is still out there, an international man of mystery.

The MVP of a Swiss league last season, Lee plays in France for Maurienne. Ironically, on a 1997 exhibition tour to Europe, Maurienne was one of the teams Tennessee played. Think any of the Vols thought at the time they'd end up there?

Terrence Woods, who played two years at UT, tried out for the NBDL but didn't stick. The last Slay heard from Woods was a phone call about a passport.

Most U.S. hoops fans would be surprised at the droves of former collegians playing around the globe.

Ex-Vols Tony White and Dyron Nix both had long, lucrative careers overseas.

The current longevity award goes to Carlus Groves, who left UT in 1992. Groves is still posting up hard in Mexico, where he recently became a naturalized citizen.

While the money is better overseas, Slay feels the more viable route to the NBA is the NBDL, now that he's got his confidence back.

"That first year out of college was tough for everybody,'' Slay said, "except for Vince and Marcus.

"I really went overseas to get away from everything. Now, I've got my head clear and I'm ready to go back at it.''

Different world Not being drafted in 2003 was a rude awakening for Slay. He hoped to catch on as a free agent, but it didn't work out.

Next stop: Istanbul. Talk about a rude awakening.

"I waited to the last minute and it was the last big money on the table,'' Slay said.

"I couldn't understand anybody or the money, and the food was cooked with no seasoning. Sometimes I'd just sit in my apartment and look out the window and think, 'I'm in a whole different world.'"

Slay arrived in Turkey in September and left in January over a dispute about his pay.

"Their favorite phrase is 'tomorrow,'" he said. "You don't get paid and they tell you, 'Tomorrow.'

"'Tomorrow' is the only English they know.''

His agent landed Slay a gig in Venezuela, which, compared to Istanbul, was a paradise stocked with beautiful women, tasty food, etc.

However, after a couple of weeks with the Cocodrilos, Slay's Turkish team, Galatasaray, forced him to come back and finish his contract.

Last summer, Slay renewed his pursuit stateside. He had a good camp in Washington, D.C., but an ankle injury cost him a spot on Portland's summer-league team.

Disappointed but not discouraged, he committed to NBDL.

Biting the bullet Of several U.S. minor leagues, the best two, quality-wise, are the NBDL and the CBA (Continental Basketball Association).

Jackie Butler, a UT signee who tried to go straight to the NBA, recently made the CBA all-star game as a rookie playing for Great Lakes.

The NBDL rosters are, on average, younger than the CBA's. In Asheville's 102-78 victory over the Florida Flame on Monday, no player had been out of college more than four years.

Slay helped make his pre-game victory promise a reality by scoring 30 points in 31 minutes on 11-of-14 shooting.

His teammates include Tony Kitchings (South Carolina), Tim Bowers (Mississippi State), Lenny Stokes (Maryland) and Joe Forte (North Carolina).

"I'm just going out and putting up numbers and hopefully somebody will take notice,'' Slay said.

In the meantime, the players make their bus rides, play to small crowds and, when the schedule allows, critique NBA games televised on ESPN or TNT.

A "D" league player's lifeline is his cell phone. The "call-up" to the big show is the carrot dangling from a stick.

It's sure not the pay. NBDL salaries are graded from $24,000 down to $12,000, depending on whether a player is on A, B, or C status.

Slay, though Asheville's leading scorer, is a C player.

"It's OK,'' he said, "as long as you come out and play and don't look at your paycheck.''

Apartments and insurance coverage are fringe benefits the league provides.

If a player is fortunate enough to get a 10-day call-up, a standard NBA deal, he'll earn $35,000 - more than his entire five-month salary in the "D" league.

This year there have been five call-ups among the six NBDL franchises.

One of them was Asheville guard Kirk Penney, to the L.A. Clippers for four games, filling in for an injured player.

"It was a neat experience,'' said Penney, who played college ball at Wisconsin. "You always want to play the game right and be ready.

"Hopefully, Ron will get a shot.''

The 'Tweener Slay's coaches predict he will indeed get his shot.

He's sixth in the league in scoring at 16.4 points, despite only recently moving into the starting lineup. Prior to his 30-point game Monday, he dumped 38 on Huntsville, Ala., last week.

"He's a talent,'' said Asheville coach Joey Meyer. "You can't teach the basketball IQ that he has. He really understands the game.

"Everybody's saying he's not a three, he's not a four. Well, he's a basketball player who just flat-out knows how to play and how to score.''

Too small for a four (power forward), too slow for a three (small forward). That's the knock.

"That's been the question forever,'' Slay said wearily. "I wish they'd just say, 'I'm looking for a player,' and then maybe I'd be there.

"But you've got to have a position. ''

Slay is listed at 6-foot-8, but that's generous. Since leaving UT, he has dropped 25 to 30 pounds to play at a quicker 225. Monday night, he was 5-of-6 from what would be 3-point range in a college game.

"Whatever position you put him in,'' said Meyer, "somebody ought to give him a look.''

Asheville's new assistant coach, former NBA forward Kermit Washington, agrees, saying, "Ron doesn't belong in this league.''

A scout who watched Slay on Monday said Slay "absolutely" has a legitimate shot at the NBA.

The quality of play in the NBDL is impressive. The players are hungry and generally unselfish, every possession a constant audition.

Slay, who always has thrived on playing to a crowd, has learned to make the best of what he has.

"It's almost like a pick-up game without any fans,'' he said with a laugh. "But I still feed off the crowd. I've got a cool relationship with the guy that sits here and a man and woman that sit over there.''

When the season ends in April, Slay has several options.

He'll try to squeeze in a summer class at UT - he needs 14 hours to graduate - and hopes to coach eventually. He might opt to earn some fast money in South America before the NBA summer-league season.

Several teams have expressed interest in having Slay on their summer roster, he said. He's leaning toward Atlanta.

He's committed to bite the bullet and play in the NBDL at least one more year, but admits he'll probably keep at it "however long it takes, really.''

In the meantime, he'll keep his cell phone charged up and turned on.

"I just need the opportunity,'' he said, "just for that one person to like me.

"I don't think that one person has been to the game here yet, but he will, sooner or later.

"Once he gets here, you'll be able to see me on TNT.''

Mike Strange may be reached at 865-342-6276 or strange2@knews.com.