America's oldest college hoopster Ken Mink hits the hardwood -- at 73!
BY CHRISTIAN RED
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Friday, October 24th 2008, 2:47 PM
Ken Mink did not star in the movie "Cocoon" or its sequel, although Hollywood has already come calling. The Farragut, Tenn., resident did not stumble upon a Fountain of Youth in his backyard, either.
A long-time itch pushed the 73-year-old Mink back to the basketball court last summer. Forced him to do his own workout regimen of suicide sprints, free-throw attempts and drills at his Knoxville church gym, all in the name of getting in playing shape for a comeback.
Michael Jordan, eat your heart out.
When Roane State Community College in Harriman, Tenn., kicks off its 2008-09 basketball season Nov. 3 against King College, head coach Randy Nesbit will have one roster member who last played college-level ball when Dwight Eisenhower was President.
"I've been holding my own athletically in practice, believe it or not," Mink told the Daily News by phone, moments after finishing a class assignment. "I've scored baskets in competition, blocked shots. I've made behind-the-back passes. But I have gotten a laugh from my teammates for some of the shots I've taken - throwback shots. I do the old Bob Cousy, running one-hander from 3-point range."
While most men his age may have long since retired to the rocker on the front porch, Mink is giving reason to believe that 73 is the new 23. Despite having a vertically-challenged vertical leap.
"Everybody on the team can dunk except me. I find myself under the basket sometimes and these guys are like the World Trade Center towers," said Mink. "But I practice the alley-oop as part of our drills."
It's no publicity stunt. No practical joke. The Raiders' team photo has been taken and includes Mink, a six-foot shooting guard. He'll wear jersey No. 54. News releases have been sent out as well and Mink promises that there will be plenty of "gray hair" in the stands for the season opener.
But the former newsman is a realist. He knows he will not start ahead of teammates like Larriques Cunningham, who brings a 42-inch vertical leap to the team. Mink said he will probably play several minutes in games where "the outcome is not hanging in balance" at the end.
Adds Nesbit, the head coach: "At this point, that will be the first step, having him play a few minutes in games where we have a comfortable lead. That could occur very soon or later. He moves up and down the court well, but that's for a 73-year-old. Not a 20-year-old. But Ken's got a little bit of moxie."
The decades-old itch is actually more of a payback. After a successful freshman year (1955-56) playing hoops at Lees Junior College in Jackson, Ky. - Mink said he averaged 13 to 14 points per game - Mink was "abruptly dismissed" his sophomore fall when he said he was wrongly accused of soaping the basketball coach's office and for putting shaving cream in the coach's shoes. He was called to the college president's office and expelled.
"It was quite a shock. I was innocent. I was up to doing a few pranks back then, but I didn't do that one," said Mink. "There was no due process in that era. I had no recourse, nothing to do but take my bitter little body home."
Mink joined the Air Force on Nov. 1, 1956 and spent four years in the military before embarking on a 38-year career in newspapers, including 13 at the Knoxville News Sentinel as an entertainment and Sunday editor. Throughout his life, he always kept active, whether playing in basketball leagues or hitting the links. Last year, while pumping in baskets at a neighbor's hoop, he decided he still had game. Mink sent letters to dozens of area community colleges hoping for a chance to make the team.
"I just thought the guy was overly unrealistic," said Nesbit 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. Who's to say (Mink) can't succeed in the long run? Just the other day a guy kicked a pass out to Ken and he did a behind-the-back pass to a guy in the corner who hit the three. I was like, 'Oh man, he laid it right on the money.'"
Now, Mink is back to suicide sprints and watching for elbows in the paint. He had to enroll in classes at Roane State - he is nearly twice as old as the school, which started in 1971 - to gain eligibility, but the Spanish and U.S. History classes are a breeze compared to punishing practices five days a week.
"I'm nursing a pulled groin, but should be good to go next week," said Mink. "I've got a busted lip, but those are the kinds of things you expect in competitive basketball." Nesbit added that after Mink survived the first practice without going into traction, he knew Mink was in it for real.
Mink said his teammates - three white players and eight African-Americans - have been extremely welcoming, even if he's more than three times their age and a little slow on the 21st-century basketball lingo.
"Yeah, they say, 'Come here Dog,' and 'Gimme the rock.' I just usually call them by their first names," said Mink. "They've taken to me very nicely, like a grandfather figure. When the team travels together, a lot of them don't know where we're going, so I'm like a travel guide."
Mink's wife Emilia, 68, was a little hesitant of her husband taking up a hobby that could land him in the hospital if he's not careful, but she has since lent her full support. She's even thinking of forming a '50s-style cheerleading squad to root for him. "I'm lucky to have such a wonderful lady in my life," said Mink.
But unlike Jordan, who famously un-retired twice during his illustrious NBA career, this one-year foray onto the court will be it for Mink. No más.
"I think this will do it for me," said Mink, who plans to write a book about his Roane State hoops experience, and who has already had Hollywood producers express interest in his story. "I hope that some people will see me who are in their seventies and will not want to sit on the couch and vegetate anymore."
And when he finally does hang up the sneakers, there will be one regret - Roane State used to play against Lees Junior College before it was absorbed by the University of Kentucky.
Said Mink: "I remember telling Coach Nesbit, 'Man, wouldn't that have been something if I could have gone back and played against those guys?
