The Perry Ellis All-Stars: The players who seem to have been playing college basketball forever

Welcome to the year of the old player in college basketball. The wait wait, THAT guy is still playing college basketball!?! year. Practice it. Prepare yourself for it. You will be saying that phrase a lot this season if you haven’t already.

So today I introduce to you — as a way to pay homage to one of the all-time he’s still in college?! guys — the Perry Ellis All-Stars list.

We have a super-dee-duper senior entering his eighth season in college hoops. We have a former four-star recruit who is playing at his fourth school and in his seventh season. We have blue bloods like Kansas trying to repeat history by adding a Perry Ellis-like figure to its ranks. And oh yeah: We haven’t even gotten to the likes of Armando Bacot, Chuck O’Bannon Jr. and Hunter Dickinson — guys who signed out of high school what feels like a decade ago but are still going strong as quintessential Perry Ellis All-Star candidates.

The one-and-done era has been one of the major themes of the last two decades in college basketball, but with older players accepting extra years of COVID eligibility, and some using that in addition to transfer years or redshirt years or injury years, the 2023-24 season is an especially quirky one with some vets that may surprise you.

So let’s jump in with a look at some of the oldest, most experienced players in hoops this season to watch for. (Wink of the CBS eye to Liam Hanley for the assist in compiling.)

Eight years?!

Four years was once the traditional length for college basketball players. A select few this season are effectively doubling up that length.

Seth Towns of Howard and Juan Munoz of Hawaii are entering their eighth (!) seasons of college basketball. Towns and Munoz are both at their third schools. 

Here’s a breakdown of the path for Towns and Munoz: 

Seth Towns, Howard

• 2016-18: Harvard
• 2018-20: Medical redshirt at Harvard
• 2020-21: Ohio State
• 2021-22: Missed season due to back injury
• 2022-23: Took season off to step away from basketball before transferring from Ohio State
• 2023-24: Howard

Juan Munoz, Hawaii

• 2016-17: Redshirted at Longwood
• 2017-18: Redshirted at Longwood
• 2018-21: Longwood
• 2021-22: Suffered preseason injury at Hawaii and did not appear in any games
• 2022-23: Sidelined for the entire year due to a preseason injury
• 2023-24: Hawaii

Six stops?!

While Towns and Munoz trump other players in the sport as far as as total number of years in college, their number of schools they have played at do not. Dusan Mahorcic is pulling off the rare six-schools-in-six-years feat as he plays out this season at Duquesne. Here’s where he has played:

Dusan Mahorcic, Duquesne  

• 2018-19: Lewis College (NCAA Division II)
• 2019-20: Moberly Area Community College
• 2020-21: Illinois State
• 2021-22: Utah
• 2022-23: NC State
• 2023-24: Duquesne

There are also a handful of players at their fifth school and a surprisingly large group of players now entering their fourth school. 

He’s still in college?!

We love a self-aware king in these streets, and Armando Bacot? Well, there’s a reason he finds himself at No. 1 in this section. Yes, he is indeed still in college, and yes, he is aware he’s approaching meme territory. Bacot committed to UNC in 2018 and is playing his fifth, and presumably final, season in 2023-24 with the Tar Heels.

Oh but wait — there’s more! Bacot’s teammate, Cormac Ryan, is entering his sixth year. Memphis guard Jahvon Quinerly is entering his third school in six seasons. And former Kentucky signee Jemarl Baker Jr. is entering his seventh season and fourth total school now at New Mexico. 

He’s how old?!

The distinction of oldest player in college basketball at the Division I level belongs to … [drumroll please … ] 

Alexis Yetna! 

Yetna has not played this season for Fairfield due to injury, but the big man — who began his career at UCF in 2017-18 (!!) — is 26 years old. Meanwhile, the oldest player to have logged a minute in a game this year is BYU’s Spencer Johnson, who is 27 days younger than Yetna. 

Here are the oldest college basketball players this season: