5 minute read
PRO-LEVEL DREAMS: IVEY SLAUGHTER, CLASS OF 2013
For Ivey Slaughter (‘13), the two most important aspects of life are God and family. “Those aspects were instilled in me at a young age by my grandfather and will never leave me. I’m a big family girl; they give me daily inspiration. They believe in me and pray for me daily, and I’m forever grateful for that.”
In addition to God and her family, Slaughter also loves one more thing: sports.
Her love of sports started at a young age as Slaughter enjoyed playing outside, and nothing could stop her from wanting to be as active as possible. Slaughter explained that at the age of three, she “was in a car accident, and my leg was broken. However, not even being in a cast could stop me. I was still doing whatever I could even with my pink cast. Soon after I had the cast removed, I started doing gymnastics from when I was four years old until I entered sixth grade.”
In sixth grade, Slaughter discovered her new love of basketball, but she faced a serious decision. Her mother asked her to choose between basketball and gymnastics. She chose basketball and said, “I believe I did choose the right sport after all.”
During her middle and high school years, the more Slaughter played basketball, the more she fell in love with the sport. When she began her junior year, Slaughter had the opportunity to play basketball somewhere new to her: Tattnall. “When I transferred to Tattnall, I was nervous because I was leaving behind the school I had known since first grade. However, I quickly learned just how friendly the Tattnall family was when I was welcomed with warm hugs and comforting smiles by everyone I met.”
Although she became a Trojan as a junior, Ivey still made quite the impact during her time at TSA. She was voted Most Athletic by her senior classmates and played on the girls basketball State Championship team in 2013. In addition, Slaughter garnered several state titles in track and field.
Even with State Championships under her belt, Slaughter still had loftier goals to pursue. “I knew if I had the opportunity to play collegiate or professional basketball, I would go for it. I refused to give up on those goals because I knew there was a path out there for me to succeed in those goals.”
She soon achieved the former goal when, upon graduation from Tattnall, Ivey headed to Tallahassee, Florida on a basketball scholarship to play for Florida State University. In the next four years, she excelled during her time as a Seminole.
She finished her four year career with the Lady Seminoles in the Top Five in school history: games played (Second - 132), games started (Second - 132), career free throws made (Third - 372), steals (Fourth - 222), free throws attempted (Fifth - 513) and rebounds (Fifth - 912).
Still, having lived out her dream of playing collegiate basketball, Slaughter set her sights on playing at the next level. She recalled that “my ultimate dream was to play in the WNBA. After my senior season in college, I was contacted by several agents and agencies that wanted to represent me. Once I chose an agency, Sig Sports, they assigned an agent to represent me. My agent contacted teams in the WNBA and worldwide to see if they were interested in me playing for their organization.”
Soon enough, Slaughter reached another goal playing for several European countries, including Hungary, Latvia and Sweden, after graduating with her Bachelor’s Degree from FSU.
Currently, Slaughter is actively pursuing several more goals, including obtaining a Masters Degree. Upon finishing her tenure playing basketball overseas, Slaughter returned to her alma mater in Tallahassee to further her education. Getting her Masters Degree is just a step towards Slaughter’s ultimate career goal of coaching women’s collegiate basketball. As she works toward that goal, she will continue to inspire others both on and off the court.
“I’ll miss the Friday night lights, Coach Massey and all of my great friends and teachers the most.” “There’s so much I’ll miss about TSA! From eating with the one-act cast after performances to Noah and I trying to sink each other during swim practice. I’ve had so much fun during my time as a Tattnall Trojan!”
Gage Neubauer
Lydia Warnock
Natalie Johnson
Pathik Desai
Camden Ford
Tyrone Person Hannah Burns
"I’ll miss all of my friends, teachers and coaches. I want to thank them all for keeping me on the right path.” “I’ll miss my Tattnall family so much! From the loving atmosphere to the great teachers to the great friendships that I made here, I’ll forever cherish the memories I made here.”
