University of Virginia basketball great Ralph Sampson scored another slam dunk Sunday night, winning $25,000 for the UVA Health System in a stunning showdown on ABC’s “Celebrity Family Feud.” His nemesis? None other than basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and his clan.

Ralph Sampson was in Charlottesville on Friday, and his visit had nothing to do with basketball. It was much more serious than that.
 

A couple of weeks before he turned 29, Kyle Stauffer, of Grottoes, learned he might have cancer. Surgery confirmed his doctors’ suspicions, and Stauffer was told that, following the procedure, he would need to undergo two rounds of chemotherapy. His doctors were hopeful the chemo would prevent the cancer from returning.

When Ralph Sampson’s father was diagnosed with cancer, Ralph knew he had to do everything he could to help. 

"I moved back home to Harrisonburg when my dad was diagnosed with prostate and lung cancer,” remembers Ralph, a UVA alumnus and Virginia Sports Hall of Fame inductee. "I became really entrenched in his treatment.” 

But, what he's most proud of is passing along the lessons he's learned to the next generation and helping young people find their way to success. At least that's the message he shared as keynote speaker for Bluefield College's Tierney Scholarship Awareness Dinner, January 24.