The Oldest Hoopster Ever

Harriman, TN – Ken Mink’s ready for his shot. The Roane State (Tenn.) senior may become the world’s oldest college basketball player on Monday. He’s no ordinary senior. The last time Mink played college hoops, Dwight Eisenhower was President. When the Raiders open their season against King College, the Guinness Book of World Records will be paying attention. “Inside Edition” will have a film crew on hand. The attention’s nice, but right now, Mink’s more concerned about how he’ll fare. He last played college hoops at Lees College (Ky.) in 1956. If Mink does see the court, he knows he’ll be a little nervous. It’s been a while since he’s been on that stage.

“Fifty-two years,” Mink says. “Can I retain that memory? Can I recapture that? I don’t know. It’s going to be a mystery for me.”

According to its coach, Randy Nesbit, the Raiders are a deep, fairly talented team. If Mink does play, it’ll probably be for a few minutes. But don’t expect him to be left behind.

“He does have his physical limitations,” Nesbit says. “But he’s also got this moxie about him. He’s going to hit his shots if he’s open. You think ‘Oh, he’s 73, he’s going to freeze up. Nope. He’ll hit that 20 footer.”

That shooting ability keeps Mink from being a publicity stunt. He’s extremely mobile (his 40-yard dash is 6.6 seconds) and agile (he sports a 20-inch vertical) for a septuagenarian, but isn’t in the same class as some of the team’s other players. That’s not the point, though. He just plays his game.

“I don’t profess to be as good as these guys,” Mink says. “But I do know they can’t let me roam free.

It doesn’t look like King College is as talented or deep as Coach Nesbit originally thought.  On Monday the Raiders absolutely got it handed to them, as they lost to Roane State, 93-42.  Still, Mink did not disappoint.  He was 0-1 from the field but with about nine minutes left in the game he found himself toeing the line and of course knocked down both.  That’s just how you do it when you play college ball in the KY.  When you get to the line you tickle the twine.  It doesn’t matter if were 18, 50 or 73.  Basketball is in our blood.  We just do it.  And Mink is no exception.