He is a lesson to every boy who ever picked up a basketball and dreamed that it would change his life. The lights were never brighter and the crowds were never bigger for a homegrown sports hero than they were a quarter-century ago for Ray Hall. But his athletic achievements, as impressive as they are, are to my mind not what is most admirable about the man. Known as "Sugar Ray" in his teens, Hall was rated among the country's top 25 high school basketball players. An inner-city kid from a solid family, Hall took on the challenge of lifting Canisius College -- still recovering from its failure -- back to respectability, rejecting more favorable offers. His status of a savior   brought more pressure than any 18-year-old should have to handle. However, I watched him mature into the player who led Canisius back to daylight. After college Hall played professionally in Italy and Greece for over 10 years until a car accident at 32 ended his basketball career. The news that he would never play again shocked Hall but unlike so many others he was ready for life after basketball. When I met Hall -- still fit at 46 -- for lunch Monday, he wore a cut-sharp gray suit, designer tie and blazing white shirt that screamed Success. "That was always the question -- when the cheers end, where do you go? Who do you turn to?" he said. "It starts and ends with that person in the mirror." Hall got the concept of academics-first from his parents. He graduated from Canisius a semester early. "No matter how good of an athlete you are, you are just one injury away from losing it all," he said. "But if you take care of things academically, you are prepared until you leave this earth." For the past 14 years, he has been in a computer sales job at Ingram Micro. He married his college sweetheart. They have three kids and a nice house in the suburbs. He figured out early what others learn too late: Athletics is part of a journey, not the destination. Congratulations, Ray, you made it. In more ways than one. Ray was regarded as a savior because   _  .
he liked to take on challenges he helped his team to regain its glory he was faithful to his hometown city he fought hard against failure at a young age