Sampson may refer to:

Animals[link]

• Sampson (horse), a shire horse that is the tallest horse on record

Astronomy[link]

• Sampson (crater), a small impact crater near the central part of the Mare Imbrium on the Moon

Literature[link]

• Samson, the figure in the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible
• Sampson, a character in the play Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare
• Dominie Sampson, fictional character from Guy Mannering
• Kid Sampson, a fictional character in Joseph Heller's classic novel Catch-22

Military and Naval[link]

• SAMPSON, a multi-function radar system for warships
• Sampson Medal, a military decoration of the United States Navy
• HMS Sampson, several Royal Navy ships with this name
• USS Sampson, several US Navy ships with this name
• FV106 Samson, British Army armoured recovery vehicle

People[link]

• Sampson the Hospitable (d. ca. 530), venerated as a saint in the Eastern Churches.
• Sampson (surname), people with the surname Sampson

Places[link]

United States

• Sampson, Missouri
• Sampson, Wisconsin, a town
• Sampson, Oconto County, Wisconsin, an unincorporated community
• Sampson County, North Carolina, a county

See also[link]

• Samson (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

George William Sampson (born 29 June 1993) ^[1] is a street dancer and actor from Warrington, England.^[2] He won the second series of Britain's Got Talent on 31 May 2008 at the age of 14.^[3]

[edit] Britain's Got Talent

2007 series[link]

In 2007, a dance teacher called Dominic Chambers told Sampson that there were auditions in the area that would be right up his alley. He only discovered he'd be auditioning for the first series of Britain's Got Talent when he arrived.^[4] In his audition, he danced to "Drop" (Timbaland feat. Magoo & Fatman Scoop), receiving a yes vote from all three judges. However, despite Simon Cowell's enthusiasm, he was unable to convince the other two judges, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan, to let Sampson proceed to the live semi-finals. This experience made Sampson determined to re-audition the following year and prove Holden and Morgan wrong. In the intervening time, he continued dancing on the streets of Manchester to improve his technique, and to raise money for his family.

2008 series[link]

In 2008, Sampson successfully got through the first round of Britain's Got Talent series 2 auditions by dancing to "Rock This Party (Everybody Dance Now)". He then came top in the audience's vote in his semi-final with his arrangement of Mint Royale's big beat remix of "Singin' in the Rain", complete with an artificial rain machine on-stage, a formula that had previously been produced in a television advertisement for the Volkswagen Golf GTI.^[5] He subsequently won the audience's vote in the final, beating dance duo Signature (second place) and Andrew Johnston (third place). He broke into tears when his win was announced.^[6] Sampson was due to perform a different routine for the final, to a track by the Bee Gees,^[7] which he described as involving "a lot of movement without me actually doing anything".^[8] An hour before the final started he changed his mind and, after consulting Simon Cowell, opted to re-perform his winning act from the semi-final.^[7]

The Mint Royale version of "Singin' in the Rain" went to number 1 in the UK on download sales alone in the week following Sampson's performance^[9] and Cowell's label Syco was bombarded with requests from fans to make a video for the song. It is the first time Syco has signed up a non-singing act solely to make a video.^[10]

In an interview the day after the final, Sampson told of his return to normality the Monday after the event.^[11] .

[edit] After Britain's Got Talent

NatWest deal[link]

On 26 June 2008, it was announced that Sampson would become the face of a new 11-18 account for NatWest bank, in a deal reportedly worth £1million.^[12]

[edit] Into the Hoods

On 4 August 2008, Sampson made his stage debut in the West End hip-hop musical Into the Hoods. With some exceptions, he appeared in the show until it stopped on 30 August. Of his new role, he said: "This year is getting better and better - Into the Hoods show is funky and young and I love the music in it – I can't wait to get dancing on that stage!". Into the Hoods was shown at the Novello Theatre in London and features music from the likes of the Gorillaz, Massive Attack, Basement Jaxx and many more. Sampson appeared as one of the lost boys.^[13][14]

Bebo[link]

On 18 November 2008, it was announced that Cowell's record company and Bebo would work together to make an online television show called Follow My Lead which would include some dance move tutorials by Sampson, but also a behind the scenes look of events and rehearsals. They previously worked together to create a similar show on Leon Jackson.^[15]

Debut single and DVD[link]

Simon Cowell initially planned to only release dance videos, but he wanted to do more. He asked the agent of Take That if he could get Sampson to sing, but it turned out he already liked to sing from a young age.^[4] His debut double a-side single titled Get Up on the Dance Floor/Headz Up was released on 24 November 2008, with the proceeds going to Great Ormond Street Hospital.^[16] After an early fault that meant the single couldn't be downloaded from iTunes for two days,^[17][18] the single finally debuted at number 30 in the UK Singles Chart^[19] and remained listed for 4 weeks. The single's position in the charts gradually lowered during that time.^[20]

On 1 December 2008, his dance DVD Access 2 All Areas was released.^[16] The one-hour^{[citation needed]} DVD contains a documentary about his rise to stardom, four music videos in which Sampson sings as well as dances and a behind the scenes look of those videos, dance tutorials and a set of photographs.^[21][22][23]

2009[link]

On 23 January 2009, Sampson helped to promote the new Nokia 5800 phone in London's Regent Street. He handed over the first Nokia 5800 sold^[24] and performed a live dance routine to "Pump Up the Volume" remixed by VV Brown^[25] which he choreographed to go with a touch-sensitive dancefloor.^[26]

On 29 January, he launched the game Battle Strikers at Toy Fair 09.^[27] He also designed a plate for Blue Peter's Mission Nutrition appeal.^[28]

On 7 March and 14 March, he hosted a 'Street Dance Weekend' at the Alton Towers Resort as part of their new family themed weekends along side street crew Flava in which fans could attend workshops to learn one of his routines and dance alongside him.

On 28 May, Sampson was the guest star at the third Britain's Got Talent semi-final and performed before the results were announced. He also was a guest star in Britain's Got Talent the Live Tour 2009 and he said that Nottingham was his favorite on 20 June 2009.

On 26 June 2009, Sampson became a Patron of Dance Aid^[29] organised by the UK Registered Charity, Hope and Homes for Children.^[30][31]

He danced before the Rugby League match between Crusaders and Salford City Reds at Brewery Field on Saturday 11 July from around 5pm. The kick-off for the match was at 6pm. He also danced at half-time. He was also scheduled to make an appearance in Legoland Windsor on 18 July as part of "Legoland Live."^[32]

In September 2009 Simon Cowell dumped Sampson after his career failed to take off.^[33][34][35] In the same month, Sampson was also evicted from his London flat following repeated acts of rowdy behaviour, such as playing music at unacceptably high volumes.^[36][37]

Also in September he starred in the first all British 3D feature film StreetDance 3D (alongside dance groups Diversity and Flawless) in which he plays a character called Eddie, released May 2010.

On 16 November, Sampson featured in the CBBC Newsround special: Whose Side Are You On? as part of the BBC's anti-bullying campaign which saw him speak out about how he was bullied when he was younger. Other stars that appeared in the programme were Joe Calzaghe, Aston Merrygold, Patsy Palmer and Gemma Hunt.

2010[link]

On 5 June 2010, he appeared on "Star King", a South Korean television show which features a variety of talented performers.^{[citation needed]}

2011[link]

On 18 February 2010, it was announced that Sampson would be joining the cast of BBC drama series, Waterloo Road. His character, a 17 year old student named Kyle Stack, first appeared in the second half of the sixth series in February 2011.^[38]

2012[link]

Sampson is to join the cast of Mount Pleasant for its second season in August 2012. He also starred in the feature film StreetDance 2 as Eddie,which was released in 2012.He has also appeared in Friday download series 3 episode 1

Works[link]

Singles[link]

Party With Me Candy Girl Body Language feat. Tha Vill Take you away

Television[link]

DVDs[link]

Filmography[link]

Health[link]

Sampson suffers from a condition called Scheuermann's disease, which affects developing bones in children and teenagers and can cause a curvature of the spine. "There's no way I'd ever give up dancing. Nothing would stop me," he told the paper. However, since the revelation Sampson said "It's not that bad." and claims that his doctor has said he's allowed to dance. The papers claim George will be dancing for years to come.^[40]

Awards and prizes[link]

Sampson won the under-16 category in the United Dance Organisation's 2007 World Street Dance championships. Following his win of Britain's Got Talent, he returned to the 2008 championships at the Blackpool Winter Gardens to give a performance together with his dance group A2AA (Access 2 All Areas) and to accept an award for his contributions to raising the profile of street dance from UDO chairman Simon Dibley.^[41][42]

In the summer of 2008 he was one of 11 celebrities to receive an honourary scout badge to celebrate the 101st birthday of the Scouting Movement.^[43][44]

He also received an award in the category "Favourite Winner" at the 2008 Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Awards^[45] and he performed his signature dance "Singing in the Rain" during the ceremony.^{[citation needed]}

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• George Sampson on Twitter
• George Sampson's Official Bebo Page
• Official A2AA Website (Sampson's dance troupe)
• ITV's official Britain's Got Talent website

v t e Britain's Got Talent Got Talent Series 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 Presenters Ant & Dec · Stephen Mulhern Judges Current Simon Cowell · Amanda Holden · Alesha Dixon · David Walliams Former Kelly Brook · Piers Morgan · Michael McIntyre · David Hasselhoff Guest Louis Walsh · Carmen Electra Winners Paul Potts · George Sampson · Diversity · Spelbound · Jai McDowall · Ashleigh and Pudsey Other notable contestants Series 1 Bessie Cursons · Connie Talbot · Damon Scott · Bar Wizards · Jake Pratt Series 2 Signature · Andrew Johnston · Escala · Faryl Smith · Kate and Gin · Charlie Green · Charlie Wernham Series 3 Susan Boyle · Julian Smith · Aidan Davis · Hollie Steel · Shaheen Jafargholi · Callum Francis · DJ Talent · Flawless · John Farnworth Series 4 Twist and Pulse · Paul Burling · ReConnected · Myles and Connor · Kev Orkian · Stevie Starr · The Cheeky Girls · Matthew Ahmet Series 5 Ronan Parke · Out of the Blue Series 6 Jonathan and Charlotte · Only Boys Aloud · The Loveable Rogues · Ryan O'Shaughnessy  · Molly Rainford · The Zimmers Related articles List of episodes · Discography · SYCOtv · FremantleMedia · talkbackTHAMES · Thames · ITV Category

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