Still playing, still winning
Carson earns state honor at 72
Inside, the 72-year-old found a document with the State of Tennessee’s official seal. It was a Senate Joint Resolution, written to recognize his efforts in the 2026 National Senior Olympic Games.
Last summer, Carson joined forces with players from North Carolina to win a gold medal in 3-on-3 basketball at the games in Des Moines, Iowa.
His hard work was first recognized in a story in the farragutpress in August 2025. Since then, Carson noted he has seen the team picture from that story in an Instagram post from his alma mater, the University of Rochester, and a magazine from his fraternity at the school.
The resolution was signed by Sen. Richard Briggs, who came to know Carson through his wife and her work on the school board.
“When the farragutpress story came out about my gold medal, I sent a copy of that to (Briggs) and boom — last week I get this in the mail,” Carson said.
He said he felt like the winner in “The Tortoise and the Hare,” having remained persistent with hoops despite a lackluster start.
“I’m really not all that athletic,” Carson said. “My team got the gold, but I was not the star. But here I am still playing at my age, and most of the guys I played with in high school and college hung it up decades ago.
“I’m a slow white guy, which is good in a way because there’s not a lot of wear and tear on the joints,” Carson added. “It’s kind of like the tortoise and the hare, you know? At the very end of my career, I become a 50-year ‘overnight’ success in basketball.”
A native of Brooklyn, Carson grew up in the same era as Tennessee greats and fellow New York natives Bernard King and Ernie Grunfeld.
While Carson did not face those two in games in parks or at Brooklyn Preparatory High School, he faced similar players who would go on to find success in college and the pros.
“That was the capital of the universe at the time for high school basketball,” he recalled fondly.
Those players prodded him to accept a Division III offer in Rochester, but a freshman-year injury brought his career to a halt.
Years later, after moving to East Tennessee to work at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Carson rediscovered the game. By age 60, he wanted to see if he could still dunk.
He soon discovered 3-on-3 and, eventually, became part of the team that won gold.
Now, he serves as an ambassador for the Tennessee Senior Olympics while continuing to play in the gym at First Baptist Concord on Sunday afternoons.
Carson emphasized the Senior Olympics start at age 50 with no ceiling, as there have even been participants as old as 102 years old. To find out more, visit http://www.tnseniorolympics.com.
Carson wants to post the news in senior centers and other areas, hopeful that people would be willing to give different Senior Olympic options a try.
As for the newly found fame?
“I don’t really seek the limelight, but hey, it’s there,” Carson joked. “I’ll enjoy it. It’s not like there’s any NIL for Senior Olympic basketball.”
