Former Syracuse basketball legend Pearl Washington has died, SU Athletics announced Wednesday morning. Washington, who played at Syracuse from 1983-1986, had been battling a malignant brain tumor.

Syracuse.com initially reported Washington’s struggle with the brain tumor at the end of August. A Gofundme page was started Jan. 20 for Washington by Brandon Steiner, a Syracuse graduate and memorabilia mogul. The page has raised $63,430 as of about 10 a.m. Wednesday morning. A vigil was held in September at Hendricks Chapel, where the now-late Father Linus DeSantis said Washington’s condition had been improving.

T-shirts had also been sold with “Pearl” scrawled on the front and SU players wore shirts on the bench and during warm-ups throughout this past basketball season.


Jessica Sheldon | Staff Photographer

SU head coach Jim Boeheim recruited Washington from Brownsville, New York. Before he got to Syracuse, Washington was well known for his exploits on the blacktop playground courts in New York City. Tim Hardaway, who is credited for his handle, emulated Washington’s crossover, he said in a video for the New York Times.

“First off I’d like to start out by saying how much I appreciate all the support for Dwayne Washington, Pearl,” Boeheim said on Jan. 30. “I think the overwhelming support that has been coming forth from everybody is tremendous. There’s no better guy and there’s nobody who has meant more to our basketball program than Dwayne Washington so I appreciate all that has been done for him and the thoughts people have come forth with. It means a lot to me. It means a lot to him.”

Washington’s signature moment at Syracuse is still played on the video board before basketball games, when he hit a game-winning, half-court buzzer beater against Boston College Jan. 21, 1984. After the shot, Washington famously kept running, right into the locker room tunnel as the student section stormed the court.

He was drafted with the 13th pick of the NBA Draft’s first round following his junior season at SU in 1986 by the then-New Jersey Nets. Washington also played for the Miami Heat and only stuck in the league until 1989.

Shortly after announcing Washington’s death, SU Athletics released the following video commemorating his life.