73-Year-Old Man Becomes Oldest College Hoops Player in Nation
While most 73-year-old men prefer hitting the links and grabbing an early bird dinner at 3:30 p.m., Ken Mink decided to go a different route. Mink, a resident of Farragut, Tennessee, left his 38-year career in newspapers behind and decided to focus on basketball. And no, he isn’t sitting in his rocker reading stats or grumbling about the “good-ol’-days”, he is suiting up as a shooting guard for Roane State Community College.
That’s right - Ken Mink has officially become the oldest college basketball player in the country at a mere 73. For someone who hasn’t played competitively in 52 years, it certainly seems like a stretch, but I love the idea. Just because a guy is really old doesn’t mean he’s lost all competitive spirit and gusto, just ask John McCain. I think the age thing means Mink should be praised and admired, not ridiculed and mocked. Again, see McCain.
Over a half-century after being dismissed from the 1955-56 Lees Junior College men’s basketball team, Mink decided to get back onto the court. Now I don’t know if you realize the kind of commitment and dedication that takes - especially for an old man. It’s not like we’re talking about Michael Jordan making a comeback a couple of years past his prime - this is like Elvis Presley moving back to Graceland and making 10 more hit albums tomorrow.
So, last summer, Mink got back into the gym and started running sprints, practicing free-throws and completing dribbling drills. When his skills seemed close to where they were in the fifties, he began sending out letters to dozens of local community colleges, hoping for a chance to try out for the squad. Even though this sounds more like the tactics of an overlooked college recruit, Mink proved it can work for someone quadruple that age.
“I just thought the guy was overly unrealistic,” Head Coach Randy Nesbit said when he read Mink’s letter. “But I’m a project kind of coach. I like taking on projects to prove something. I was willing to give him a shot and his letter resonated with me.”
Nesbit wasn’t the only one with something to prove though. At tryouts, Mink drained shot after shot, made pass after pass and at the end of the day, he was good enough to be a part of the Roane State Raiders. And because he is playing for a college team, Mink had to enroll in classes in order to obtain eligibility.
Can you imagine that scene? Picture your grandfather sitting next to you in history class, pulling up his pant leg and saying “Here’s where the damn bullet got me in ‘Nam!”
For fellow students, I’m sure that it’s a little strange but his teammates seem to really like Mink. “They’ve taken to me very nicely, like a grandfather figure.” He said. “When the team travels together, a lot of them don’t know where we’re going, so I’m like a travel guide.”
At 73, Mink has likely seen more than everyone else on the team combined. He’s watched the game that he loves transform completely throughout the decades into the high-flying, long-range sport that it is today. And even though he can’t dunk the ball, a 1950s style one-handed running three-pointer works just fine - and its worth more too.
So with John McCain in a race for the White House and Ken Mink in a race with time, there are very apparent similarities between the two. One huge difference though, is the fact that come January, at least Mink will still be a player, the oldest one in America too.
This entry was posted on Thursday, November 6th, 2008 at 2:33 pm and is filed under College Basketball, Sports News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
November 26th, 2008 at 1:45 am
sports coach career…
I saw something about that on TV last night….