One of the most famous players in Big East history, and perhaps the most well-known, beloved Syracuse player ever — Dwayne “Pearl” Washington — died on Wednesday, according to his family.
He was 52.
Washington battled a brain tumor since last summer, when he was first diagnosed with the malignant growth. He had the first of multiple surgeries in August, and to help offset his crippling medical costs, a GoFundMe page was started in January. It subsequently raised more than $63,000 to aid Washington in his fight.
In light of the news, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim did something on Wednesday morning he doesn’t do often: tweeted.
There was no better guy and there’s nobody who has meant more to our basketball program than Dwayne Washington.#CuseFamily
— Jim Boeheim (@therealboeheim) April 20, 2016
You will forever be in our hearts. We love you.
— Jim Boeheim (@therealboeheim) April 20, 2016
“It could be a month, it could be weeks,” Washington’s close friend, Mark Finney, said on April 9. “We’re just accepting that God is ready for him. It’s Pearl’s time.”
Washington spent most of his final weeks at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, in New York City. The city’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, deemed April 9, 2016, “Pearl Washington Day.” The affable and dazzling point guard grew up in Brooklyn.
Washington, who earned his nickname in jest from NBA legend Earl “the Pearl” Monroe, is a legend in central New York. Washington was a smooth, pretty, spiffy point guard who helped keep Syracuse competitive amid the most competitive era of Big East basketball: the early-to-mid 1980s. Over the course of his three-year career at Cuse from 1983-86, Washington averaged 15.6 points, 6.7 assists, 2.7 rebounds and 2.3 steals. The then-named Orangemen averaged 24 wins per season while Washington was at the school.
Washington, who was considered the No. 1 recruit in the country when he picked Syracuse, had one of the biggest plays in school history on Jan. 24, 1984, when he scored the winning basket from half court — the shot still only counted as two points — to defeat Boston College.
Washington led an upstart Syracuse team to the Big East title game in 1984 and 1986. The Orangemen’s one-point loss to St. John’s in the ’86 conference title game was the only time in Washington’s career at Syracuse that the Orangemen were on the wrong side of a one-point game.
Washington became the first Syracuse player under Jim Boeheim to leave school early. He departed after his junior season and went on to be the 13th pick in the 1986 NBA Draft (New Jersey Nets by way of the Washington Bullets). He was a three-time First Team selection to the Big East and a First Team All-American in 1985-86. In 2004, Washington was named to the First Team of the Big East’s all-time, 25th anniversary team.
College basketball fans were made aware throughout 2015-16 of Washington’s condition and his impact on the Cuse program due to the old-style “Pearl” script shirts Cuse players wore during warmups and over their jerseys while sitting on the bench. Washington’s situation earned even more publicity as 10th-seeded Syracuse made a surprise run to this year’s Final Four.
In light of Washington’s deteriorating condition in recent months, fans have called upon Syracuse to put a statue of No. 31 outside of the Carrier Dome.
He was one of the best ever, and his death will have many in the sport reflecting on his character and style. Washington was one of a kind on the court, the dynamic, unafraid type of player who changed the course of Syracuse hoops. If you argued only Jim Boeheim had a bigger impact on the program, plenty who have followed SU hoops for decades would be prone to agree.
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