Seventy-three-year-old college basketball player disqualified

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Ken Mink, a 73-year-old college basketball player, has been declared ineligible to play by the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) due to academic issues stemming from a Spanish class. This ruling affects his team, Roane State, which will have to forfeit their last game. The discussion highlights the strict eligibility rules of the NCAA, which limit competition years based on age and prior college attendance, emphasizing that such age restrictions prevent older athletes from participating in collegiate sports.

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...because he bombed in a Spanish class! Bummer!

Fifty-three years after getting the collegiate boot as the fall guy on a prank-gone-bad, 73-year-old college basketball player Ken Mink is again on the suffering side of a controversy.

Mink says he has been ruled ineligible to play by the National Junior College Athletic Association; and Roane State, the junior college team in Harriman for which he plays, will have to forfeit his last game...
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/feb/20/73-year-old-basketball-player-ruled-ineligible/
 
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I saw him on the news a few nights ago, I was giving him the mental "You go dawg", so this news is disheartening. I hope he gets to play again soon.
 
This could only happen in the NJCAA. Or maybe the NAIA.

In the NCAA, you only have 5 years to complete 4 years of competition from the time a player first enrolls in college. If a person hasn't attended college, they start losing 1 year of eligibility for each year over 21. Wasn't that an issue with a Florida St quarterback several years ago? (I think he only lost one year of eligibility, but he was in his mid-20s, making him worth less in the NFL draft)

As a result, you never see 73-year-olds playing in the NCAA Tournament, much less playing for a championship team.

Personally, I think the NCAA could be sued for age discrimination.

Note: There is an exception for military service and I remember an article from years ago about a placekicker playing on the same team as his son.
 

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