Ralph Sampson

No. 50
Center
Personal information
Born	(1960-07-07) July 7, 1960 (age 51) Harrisonburg, Virginia
Nationality	American
High school	Harrisonburg
Listed height	7 ft 4 in (2.24 m)
Listed weight	228 lb (103 kg)
Career information
College	Virginia (1979–1983)
NBA Draft	1983 / Round: 1 / Pick: 1st overall
Selected by the Houston Rockets
Pro career	1983–1995
Career history
As player:
1983–1987	Houston Rockets
1987–1989	Golden State Warriors
1989–1990	Sacramento Kings
1991	Washington Bullets
1992	Unicaja Ronda (Spain)
1994–1995	Rockford Lightning (CBA)
As coach:
1999–2000	Richmond Rhythm (IBL)
Career highlights and awards
4× NBA All-Star (1984–1987) NBA All-Star Game MVP (1985) NBA Rookie of the Year (1984) All-NBA Second Team (1985) NBA All-Rookie First Team (1984) 3× Naismith College Player of the Year (1981–1983) 2× John R. Wooden Award winner (1982–1983) 3× USBWA Player of the Year (1981–1983) 3× Adolph Rupp Trophy winner (1981–1983) 2× NABC Player of the Year (1982–1983) 3× Associated Press Player of the Year (1981–1983) 3× UPI Player of the Year (1981–1983) Sporting News Player of the Year (1983) 3× ACC Player of the Year (1981–1983) 3× Consensus NCAA All-American First Team (1981–1983)
Career NBA statistics
Points	7,039 (15.4 ppg)
Rebounds	4,011 (8.8 rpg)
Assists	1,038 (2.3 apg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals Competitor for  United States Men's basketball Pan American Games Gold 1979 San Juan Team competition

Ralph Lee Sampson, Jr. (born July 7, 1960) is a retired American college and professional basketball player.

A 7-foot-4 phenom, three-time College Player of the Year, and No. 1 pick in the 1983 NBA Draft, Sampson brought heavy expectations with him to the NBA.

The NBA Rookie of the Year, Sampson averaged 20.7 points and 10.9 rebounds for his first three seasons with the Houston Rockets before injuries began to take their toll. Three knee surgeries later he retired a four-time All-Star whose career highlight ended up being a buzzer-beating shot to dethrone the Los Angeles Lakers as Western Conference champions, derailing their hopes for coveted back-to-back NBA titles and sending the Rockets to their second NBA Finals in the team's history to that point.

Early life[link]

Sampson was already 6-foot-7 inches tall by the ninth grade, reaching 7-foot-3 in high school in Harrisonburg, Virginia. He averaged nearly 30 points, 19 rebounds, and 7 blocked shots as a senior (after averaging 14 points and 11 rebounds as a sophomore, and 19 points and 17 rebounds as a junior), at Harrisonburg High, leading the team to state AA basketball championships in 1978 and 1979. His senior year he lost the high school player of the year award to another talented center, Sam Bowie. However, he did get a form of revenge against Bowie, outplaying him in the Capital Classic, getting 23 points and 21 rebounds with 4 blocks in a game styled "Battle of the Giants".

College[link]

Sampson was arguably the most heavily recruited college and professional basketball prospect of his generation appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated an unprecedented six times in a span of less than four years (December 17, 1979; December 1, 1980; March 30, 1981; November 29, 1982; December 20, 1982; and October 31, 1983).

Playing center for the University of Virginia, he led the Cavaliers to an NIT title in 1980, an NCAA Final Four appearance in 1981 and an NCAA elite 8 appearance in 1983. He earned three Naismith Awards as the National Player of the Year, only the second athlete to do so, and an unprecedented pair of Wooden Awards.

NBA career[link]

Houston Rockets[link]

With his size and agility Sampson was expected to score like Wilt Chamberlain and win championships like Bill Russell when he reached the pros. The Houston Rockets made him the No. 1 pick in the 1983 NBA Draft.^[1] As a rookie he averaged 21.0 points and 11.1 rebounds, played in the All-Star Game, and won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award.^[2]

The Rockets managed only a 29-53 record in 1983-84 and again "earned" the right to pick first in the 1984 NBA Draft, choosing Hakeem Olajuwon out of the University of Houston. Many observers criticized the Rockets' choice, believing the two 7-footers would not be effective playing together, while others thought the combination could be overpowering. Sampson, playing a new style of power forward, had new expectations placed upon him. At the time, Dallas Mavericks Coach Dick Motta said, "That front line, when history is written, when they’ve grown up, might be the best ever assembled on one team. Ever." Houston guard John Lucas said of Sampson’s move to forward, "He’ll revolutionize the game."

In 1984-85 the Rockets improved by 19 games to 48-34 and made the playoffs for the first time in three seasons. Sampson had his best individual campaign, averaging 22.1 points and 10.4 rebounds and earning a berth on the All-NBA Second Team. He and Olajuwon both played in the 1985 NBA All-Star Game, and Sampson, after scoring 24 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, earned the game’s MVP Award.^[3]

The next season Houston won the Midwest Division with a 51-31 record. In the playoffs, the Rockets swept the Sacramento Kings, but faced a stiffer challenge against Alex English and the Denver Nuggets in the Conference Semi-Finals, eventually winning the series 4-2, with the sixth and deciding game going to double overtime. Against the defending champion Lakers in the Conference Finals, the Rockets were ready to knock off their rivals who had the best of them during the season. The Rockets lost game 1, but the Rockets fought back, winning four straight to take the series four games to one. In Game 5 of that series, Sampson provided one of the most memorable moments in NBA Playoff history. With the score tied at 112, Olajuwon having earlier been ejected, and with only one second remaining on the clock, Sampson took an inbounds pass and launched a twisting turnaround jumper that sailed through the hoop at the buzzer, giving the Rockets a 114-112 victory and a shocking series upset.

In the NBA Finals the Rockets faced the Boston Celtics. Boston sportswriters were not happy about not getting revenge against the Lakers who had beaten the Celtics in the Finals the year before, but the matchup was interesting with the young front court challenging the old guard of the Celtics. During the season at the Boston Garden, the Rockets were playing the Celtics well until Sampson suffered a jarring fall on his back. At the start of the Finals, Sampson quickly found himself in foul trouble early in game one as Boston held its serve easily leading 2-0 going back to Houston. Houston won a close game 3 under the leadership of Sampson. Game 4 also went down to the wire with the Celtics pulling it out on late Larry Bird 3 pointer heroics and untimely turnovers by Rockets guard Mitch Wiggins. In a similarly close Game 5 in Houston (under the 2-3-2 format) Sampson inexplicably and unprofessionally succumbed to taunting by the much smaller and less significant 6-foot-1 Boston guard Jerry Sichting resulting in Sampson taking a swing and an ejection from the game. Strangely, this fired up the Rockets who won game 5 by 15 points without Ralph thanks to the inspired play of Olajuwon, Jim Petersen and Robert "Bobby Jo" Reid. Game 6 went back to Boston with Sampson finding himself again in foul trouble and of little effect against the older and wiser Celtic front court of Bird, McHale and Parish. After the series, Boston coach KC Jones called the Rockets, "the new monsters on the block" with the future looking very bright for the Rockets. During the six-game championship series loss against the Celtics, Sampson averaged 14.8 points on .438 shooting, 9.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game.^[4]

Golden State Warriors[link]

Injured halfway into the 1986-87 season, Sampson fell out of favor with Rockets Coach Bill Fitch and was traded, along with guard Steve Harris, to the Golden State Warriors for Eric "Sleepy" Floyd and Joe Barry Carroll. But Sampson’s knee and back troubles worsened, and he never played a full slate in the next four seasons. He averaged 6.4 points and 5.0 rebounds with Golden State in 1988-89 and was traded to the Sacramento Kings for Jim Petersen.

Sacramento Kings[link]

Sampson’s days at Sacramento were disheartening. He totaled just 51 games in two seasons, averaging 4.2 and 3.0 points, respectively, in 1989-90 and 1990-91.

Washington Bullets[link]

Released by the Kings, Sampson went on to a mere 10-game stint with the Washington Bullets in 1991-92 before being waived. The player once predicted to be the greatest ever in the NBA had played just 441 games in 10 NBA seasons, slightly more than half the 820 scheduled.

Retirement[link]

Sampson played eight games for Unicaja Ronda of the Spanish League during the 1991-92 season.

Returning to the States, he spent the 1992–93 season as an assistant to head coach Lefty Driesell at James Madison University before coaching a minor league professional team in Richmond, Virginia.

Reflecting back on his career and its three knee surgeries, Sampson admitted that he had attempted to come back too quickly from them, and said that he tried not to think about what could have been.

In 1996, Sampson was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. In 2002, he was named to the ACC 50th Anniversary men's basketball team as one of the fifty best players in Atlantic Coast Conference history - one of only three Virginia Cavaliers so honored. On November 22, 2011, Sampson was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. In February 2012, Sampson was honored by Houston Rockets and fans as a member of the Decade Team of the 80s. On April 2, 2012, Sampson was named a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame's induction class of 2012.

Sampson currently devotes his time as founder and chairman of Winner's Circle Enterprises and the Winner's Circle Foundation, as well as a prominent speaker on sports and education. The goals of Winner's Circle Enterprises and the Winner's Circle Foundation are to ensure quality education for children across the country.^[5]

Sampson's son, Ralph Sampson III, played collegiate basketball for the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers. Sampson's younger son, Robert, currently plays for the East Carolina Pirates men's basketball team.

Awards[link]

• Naismith College Player of the Year (1981-1983)
• USBWA College Player of the Year (1981-1983)
• Adolph Rupp Trophy (1981-1983)
• John R. Wooden Award (1982-1983)
• NBA Rookie of the Year (1984)
• NBA All-Rookie Team (1984)
• NBA All-Star Game MVP (1985)
• NBA All-Star (1984-1987)
• All-NBA Second Team selection (1985)
• National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductee (2011)
• Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductee (2012)

Basketball statistics[link]

College

NBA Draft: Selected in the 1st round (1st overall).

NBA

See also[link]

• List of National Basketball Association players with most blocks in a game
• List of tallest players in National Basketball Association history
• List of NCAA Division I men's basketball career rebounding leaders
• List of NCAA Division I men's basketball players with 2000 points and 1000 rebounds

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• University of Virginia Basketball Media Guide (PDF copy available at www.virginiasports.com)

External links[link]

• nba.com historical playerfile
• "His Future is Up in the Air" Sports Illustrated (Dec. 17, 1979)
• ClutchFans.net Ralph Sampson Profile - Houston Rocket Fan Site
• Oscar Robertson Trophy USBWA College Player of the Year
• "The prodigal Sampson: Ralph returns to UVA" 2007 article in the Hook weekly

Mountain Top
—  Census-designated place  —
Mountain Top Location within the state of Pennsylvania
Coordinates: 41°8′7″N 75°54′16″W / 41.13528°N 75.90444°W / 41.13528; -75.90444Coordinates: 41°8′7″N 75°54′16″W / 41.13528°N 75.90444°W / 41.13528; -75.90444
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
County	Luzerne
Area
• Total	15.1 sq mi (39.0 km2)
• Land	15.1 sq mi (39.0 km2)
• Water	0 sq mi (0 km2)
Population (2010)
• Total	10,982
• Density	730/sq mi (280/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP codes	18707
Area code(s)	570
FIPS code
GNIS feature ID

Mountain Top is a census-designated place (CDP) in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the CDP population was 10,982.^[1]

Mountain Top is located along Pennsylvania Route 309 south of Wilkes-Barre in Fairview Township, Wright Township and a small part of Rice Township.

Name[link]

Though it is generally accepted that the area's proper name is "Mountain Top", there has been some debate about whether it should actually be "Mountaintop". The local historical society uses the spelling "Mountain Top".^[2] The United States Postal Service uses the spelling "Mountain Top" for ZIP Code 18707, and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spells it Mountain Top on a Pennsylvania driver's license. The local newspaper, however, the Mountaintop Eagle,^[3] uses the Mountaintop spelling in both its title as well as any reference to its location

Geography[link]

Mountain Top is located at 41°8′7″N 75°54′16″W / 41.13528°N 75.90444°W / 41.13528; -75.90444 (41.1353022, -75.9044749). According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 15.1 square miles (39.0 km²), all of it land.^[4]

Mountain Top is located 8 miles (13 km) northwest of White Haven and 10 miles (16 km) south of Wilkes-Barre on Pennsylvania Route 309.

Mountain Top is elevated at 1,558 feet (475 m) above sea level.

Demographics[link]

As of the census^[5] of 2000, there were 15,269 people, 5,556 households, and 4,394 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 224.0 people per square mile (86.5/km²). There were 5,774 housing units at an average density of 84.7/sq mi (32.7/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 97.02% White, 0.54% African American, 0.03% Native American, 1.62% Asian, 0.24% from other races, and 0.56% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.08% of the population.

There were 5,556 households out of which 36.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.2% were married couples living together, 8.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.9% were non-families. 18.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.72 and the average family size was 3.10.

In the CDP the population was spread out with 26.0% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 28.7% from 25 to 44, 25.7% from 45 to 64, and 13.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 95.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.9 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $51,655, and the median income for a family was $58,588. Males had a median income of $41,271 versus $26,346 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $22,480. About 2.9% of families and 3.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.7% of those under age 18 and 5.4% of those age 65 or over.

Education[link]

Mountain Top is located in the Crestwood Area School District which covers over 110 square miles (280 km²). In this area is included Dennison Township, Dorrance Township, Fairview Township, Nuangola Borough, Rice Township, Slocum Township, White Haven Borough, Wright Township, and Penn Lake Borough.

The Crestwood School District consists of five schools:

• Rice Elementary School - Rice Township (Grades K-6). The principal is Kevin Seyer.
• Fairview Elementary School - Fairview Township (Grades K-6)
• Crestwood Middle School - Mountain Top (Grades 7 and 8) The teaching teams are Wildcats, Thunderbees, Red team, and White team. The Principal, as of 2007, is Mr. Brian Baddick.
• Crestwood High School - Mountain Top (Grades 9-12).

St. Jude's Catholic School in Wright Township serves grades K-8, after which students can continue Catholic education by attending Holy Redeemer High School in Wilkes-Barre, or can enter Crestwood High School.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Mountain Top Historical Society
• Mountaintop On The Move, volunteer community organization
• NEPA309.Com, live-motion camera view of Route 309 in Mountain Top
• Crestwood School District
• Crestwood High School

v t e Municipalities and communities of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States County seat: Wilkes-Barre Cities Hazleton Nanticoke Pittston Wilkes-Barre Boroughs Ashley Avoca Bear Creek Village Conyngham Courtdale Dallas Dupont Duryea Edwardsville Exeter Forty Fort Freeland Harveys Lake Hughestown Jeddo Kingston Laflin Larksville Laurel Run Luzerne Nescopeck New Columbus Nuangola Penn Lake Park Plymouth Pringle Shickshinny Sugar Notch Swoyersville Warrior Run West Hazleton West Pittston West Wyoming White Haven Wyoming Yatesville Townships Bear Creek Black Creek Buck Butler Conyngham Dallas Dennison Dorrance Exeter Fairmount Fairview Foster Franklin Hanover Hazle Hollenback Hunlock Huntington Jackson Jenkins Kingston Lake Lehman Nescopeck Newport Pittston Plains Plymouth Rice Ross Salem Slocum Sugarloaf Union Wilkes-Barre Wright CDPs Beech Mountain Lakes Browntown Chase East Berwick Georgetown Glen Lyon Harleigh Hickory Hills Hilldale Hudson Inkerman Lattimer Mocanaqua Mountain Top Nuremberg‡ Pardeesville Pikes Creek Plains Shavertown Sheatown Silkworth Trucksville Upper Exeter Wanamie West Nanticoke Weston Unincorporated communities Back Mountain Breslau Drifton Drums Ebervale Glen Summit Huntington Mills Japan Kis-Lyn Koonsville Korn Krest Milnesville Old Boston Port Griffith Suscon Sybertsville Tomhicken Wapwallopen Waterton Footnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

Red Bird dressed in white buckskin for his surrender to U.S. authorities

Red Bird (c. 1788 – 1828) was a leader of the Winnebago (or Ho-Chunk) Native American tribe. He was a leader in the Winnebago War against the United States. He attacked settlers in the area of Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, but surrendered when American forces marched into Ho-Chunk territory. He died in prison in 1828 while awaiting trial.^[1]

Notes[link]

This article about an Indigenous person of North America is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

This Wisconsin-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Rodney Colin Williams (born April 25, 1977 in Decatur, Georgia) is a former American and Canadian football punter who last played for the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League.

College career[link]

Williams, who played from 1995 to 1998, left Georgia Tech as the school's career leader in punting average at 41.1 yards a kick. His single-season average of 45.64 yards a kick in 1997 set a school record that still stands. That same season, he had a school record 553 punting yards against Florida State. In November of 2011, Williams was inducted in to the Georgie Tech Sports Hall of Fame.

Professional career[link]

He was in the NFL, trying out for many teams over several years landing a job once, in 2001 with the New York Giants. At the time, Williams was the only starting African-American punter in the NFL, and was just the fourth in the league's history. Williams set a team record with a 90 yard punt on Monday Night Football on September 10, 2001 in Denver against the Broncos.^[1] He is now out of the league after not signing with a team since 2006.

References[link]

External links[link]

• nfl.com profile

This biographical article relating to an American football punter is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Gene banks are a type of biorepository which preserve genetic material. In plants, this could be by freezing cuts from the plant, or stocking the seeds. In animals, this is the freezing of sperm and eggs in zoological freezers until further need. With corals, fragments are taken which are stored in water tanks under controlled conditions.^[1]

In plants, it is possible to unfreeze the material and propagate it, however, in animals, a living female is required for artificial insemination. While it is often difficult to utilize frozen animal sperm and eggs, there are many examples of it being done successfully.

In an effort to conserve agricultural biodiversity, gene banks are used to store and conserve the plant genetic resources of major crop plants and their crop wild relatives. There are many gene banks all over the world, with the Svalbard Global Seed Vault being probably the most famous one.

Types of gene banks[link]

Seed bank[link]

The seed bank preserves dried seeds by storing them at a very low temperature. Spores and pteridophytes are conserved in seed banks, but other seedless plants, such as tubercrops cannot be preserved this way.^{[citation needed]} The largest seed bank in world is the International Rice Research Institute in Manila.^{[citation needed]}

Tissue bank[link]

In this technique buds, protocorm and meristematic cells are conserved through particular light and temperature arrangements in a nutrient medium. This technique is used to preserve seedless plants and plants which reproduce asexually.

Cryobank[link]

In this technique, a seed or embryo is preserved at very low temperatures. It is usually preserved in liquid nitrogen at -196°C. This is helpful for the conservation of species facing extinction.^[2]

Pollen bank[link]

This is a method in which pollen grains are stored. We can make plants which are facing extinction in the present world. Using this technique, we can make plants with one set chromosome.

Field gene bank[link]

This is a method of planting plants for the conservation of gene. For this purpose we construct ecosystem artificially. Through this method one can compare the difference among plants of different species and can study it in detail. It needs more land, adequate soil, weather, etc.. Germ plasma of important crops are conserved through this method. 42,000 varieties of rice are conserved in the Central Rice Research Institute in Orissa.

See also[link]

• Biobank
• Biological database
• Seed bank
• Coral gene bank^[3]

External links[link]

• AEGIS A European Genebank Integrated System
• The Crop Genebank Knowledge Base
• Genebanks
• Israel Gene Bank

Multimedia[link]

• Short DIVERSEEDS video about the Israeli Gene Bank

References[link]

• Ellis, R.H., T.D. Hong and E.H. Roberts (1985). Handbook of Seed Technology for Genebanks Vol. II: Compendium of Specific Germination Information and Test Recommendations. IBPGR (now Bioversity International). Rome, Italy. http://www.bioversityinternational.org/publications/Web%5Fversion/52/. 
• Engels, J.M.M. and L. Visser, editors. (2003). A Guide to Effective Management of Germplasm Collections. CABI, IFPRI, IPGRI, SGRP. http://www.bioversityinternational.org/Publications/pubfile.asp?ID_PUB=899.  174 p.
• Kameswara, N., J. Hanson, M. E. Dulloo, K. Ghosh, A. Nowell and M. Larinde. (2006). Manual of Seed Handling in Genebanks. Bioversity International, CTA (Technical Center for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation), FAO, ILRI. http://www.bioversityinternational.org/Publications/pubfile.asp?ID_PUB=1167.  147 p.
• Koo, B., Pardey, P. G., Wright, B. D., et al. (2004). Saving Seeds. CABI, IFPRI, IPGRI, SGRP. http://www.bioversityinternational.org/Publications/1013/default.asp.