Gramps is getting in the action. Having joined the Roane State junior college team in Tennessee, Ken Mink has likely become one of the oldest people to ever play college basketball. At 73 years old he is a mere 50 years older (half a century?) than most of the other guys on the court.
 

The 6-foot, 190-pound baller is on the team’s roster as a senior. In the words of MSNBC’s Beyond the Arc blog, “no kidding.”
 

In light of the news, we’re left asking: What? How? Why? And, most importantly, WTF??? MSNBC clears up the confusion, kind of:

He stayed fit through the years with various athletic activities (Golfing, snow skiing, hang gliding, hiking and basketball), but realized he could still hoop when he was shooting baskets in his driveway last fall.

"I had been knocking down shot after shot, so when I came in the house I told my wife, 'I've still got it,' " Mink told the Knoxville News Sentinel. "She said, 'You've got what?' I said, 'I can still play.' "

That prompted Mink to write various schools, asking about hoops opportunities. Roane’s coach, Randy Nesbit, gave him a shot. Mink spent the summer getting into shape, shooting baskets and playing with a senior team from the area in three state tournaments.

Although, Mink probably won’t play more than five or six minutes per game, it has little to do with his health or conditioning (ageist!). Instead, it’s because he doesn’t know the complicated offensive and defensive schemes that have developed since he played ball at Lees College, where he got kicked off the team for allegedly shaving creaming his coach’s office.
 

So, come out Nov. 3 and join the Guinness Book of World Records official, for Mink’s debut. Just bring signs with really big writing so he can read it.

(Photo Source:  Knoxnews.com)