How Auden Slaughter is emerging as basketball star on TSSAA's state tournament stage

MURFREESBORO — Santa Fe guard Auden Slaughter began to understand he could control a crowd by the time he was a third-grader. He at least could control how a crowd felt about him even if he wasn't entirely sure why they felt that way.

Competing in a Columbia youth league, as an 8- and 9-year-old, Slaughter was asked not to participate in the league after putting up gaudy scoring numbers that included 40 and 50-point games.

"I remember grown-ups just screaming because they were mad," Slaughter said. "And at first I was really upset because I was like, 'Why do we have to leave?' But when I was told why, I was like, 'Well, I guess that makes sense.'"

Santa Fe's fans were in the palm of his hands Wednesday in the TSSAA Class 1A state quarterfinal against North Greene. And in the fourth quarter he had North Greene's fans in disbelief after Santa Fe's come-from-behind, 53-50, victory over the Huskies at Murphy Center.

The Wildcats (26-5) face Chattanooga Prep at 12:45 p.m. Friday in the semifinal.

"We could've definitely done without the suspense," said Brad Slaughter, Auden's father and the nine-year Wildcats coach who guided Santa Fe to the program's first TSSAA boys basketball state tournament in school history. "But this was a whole new experience. We didn't know where to park or where to come into the locker room. This was a pretty big stage for Santa Fe."

Slaughter had his stage Wednesday against another Class 1A star in North Greene's Jason Britton. The two didn't disappoint. Britton had 21 points at halftime and finished with 29 points and seven rebounds. Slaughter had 30 points and 15 rebounds. Both stars' big came in a year where both were snubbed from being Mr. Basketball finalists. Britton drilled a long-range 3-pointer at the end of the game, but his release came just after the buzzer to seal the win for Santa Fe.

"I like to say that I didn't push Auden into basketball, he pushed me into it," Brad Slaughter said. "Since he was little he wanted to dribble inside and outside the house. He always wanted to shoot and he had an older brother, two years older, who I think helped make him better."

Andy Slaughter, Auden's older brother, was Santa Fe's all-time leading scorer with over 1,500 points when he graduated after the 2021-22 season. Auden, a junior, holds that distinction now with over 2,600 points.

"He's made me the kind of player I am today," Auden said about his brother. "He's the one that told me I could be really good at this game."

Both of Brad Slaughter's sons are legends at the school. Auden averaged 29.7 points as a sophomore, scoring over 30 points seven times that included a 50-point game against Lewis County in January of 2023. He was named all state and The Tennessean's All Midstate Small Class team.

This season he was among the top three scorers in the state, averaging 31.1 points coming into the state tournament with three 40-point games. Brad Slaughter gives his son the green light on offense, but he tries to balance that with teaching Auden how to pick his spots.

"He's earned it," Brad Slaughter said about the freedom he gives Auden. "What we work on with Auden is, we want you to shoot 30 shots a game. We want you to shoot 30 high-quality shots and he's a tough guy to coach because he's so good.

"At times you want him to shoot early and at times you want to have longer possessions. Sometimes I'm giving him mixed messages."

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But Auden has learned to decipher those messages without costing his team. Santa Fe rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit to advance as Macon Adkison added 17 points in the win.

"We're a small town and a lot of people don't know about us," Auden said. "I'm just glad we're able to get this opportunity (at state) because it could help me in the future with colleges and as a team, it puts us out there for them to really know who we are."

Reach sports writer George Robinson at georgerobinson@theleafchronicle.com and on the X platform (formerly Twitter) @Cville_Sports.