Former University of Florida and Brandon High School basketball player Dwayne Schintzius, in a prolonged battle with leukemia, has been released from the hospital and is making a steady recovery, his father said Wednesday.
Schintzius, 41, received a successful bone-marrow transplant from his brother, Travis, on Jan. 12. For approximately two more months, as a necessary precaution to ward off any complications, he will stay in an apartment near the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute.
"We are overjoyed with what has happened," Ken Schintzius said. "We believe in the power of prayer. The doctors are very optimistic. He has been declared leukemia-free. There's a ways to go before he's back where he was, but it's moving in the right direction."
Schintzius, who played at 7-foot-1 and 260 pounds, attended UF from 1986-90 and is the school's fifth all-time leading scorer (1,624 points). He was a first-round pick (24th overall) of the NBA's San Antonio Spurs in 1990. He also played for the Sacramento Kings, New Jersey Nets, Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Clippers and Boston Celtics, averaging 2.7 points and 2.5 rebounds over his career.
Schintzius' father said his son has been inundated with text messages and letters from well-wishers who recently learned about the illness.
"He has a lot of people thinking about him and a lot of people praying for him," Ken Schintzius said. "For that, we are all so grateful."
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