Never Too Old: Man, 73, to Play College Basketball
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In today’s society they say 30 is the new 20 and 40 is the new 30.
So how old does that make a 73-year-old man who will play basketball this season for Roane State Community College in Kentucky?
Ken Mink, the 73-year-old man in question, will be number 54 on the team. He is about to show his toughest critics that he can keep up with a bunch of athletic teenagers, The Lexington News reported Sunday.
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“I guess I’m just out of my mind,” Mink told the newspaper.
Mink, a retiree from Knoxville, Tenn., said he isn’t out to prove anything, he simply wants a chance to finish his sophomore season.
Mink played ball for Lees Junior College in Jackson, Ky., during the 1955-56 season, averaging 11.8 points a game. However, he never made it to his sophomore season because he was expelled from schoolfor a prank he claims not to have actually committed.
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One day last year, Mink was shooting hoops in his driveway when he made several three-pointers in a row. That’s when he had the idea to play college basketball.
Publicly, other senior citizens are proving age is just a number: At the age of 82, Cloris Leachman, for example,twirled around the “Dancing With the Stars” stage with moves that would make Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers jealous.
Standing 6-feet tall and weighing 195 pounds, Mink passed the required physical fitness test.
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“(Mink) gets up and down the floor and can get shots off in practice,” said teammate BJ Ware. “He can definitely still play for being that old.”