Syracuse, N.Y. — Pearl Washington, perhaps the most beloved player in Syracuse University basketball history, is gravely ill, his friend Mark Finney said Saturday night.

Washington was diagnosed last summer with a brain tumor and has undergone various treatments since the detection of the tumor. The most electric of Syracuse point guards is currently at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.

"The doctors have said it won't be long, but we don't know what that means," Finney said from New York, where he is with Washington and Washington's fiancee Debra Busacco. "It could be a month, it could be weeks. We're just accepting that God is ready for him. It's Pearl's time."

Mark Finney visits former Syracuse guard Pearl Washington on Saturday at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York city.

Finney said New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and various dignitaries proclaimed Saturday to be "Pearl Washington Day" in the city where Washington has spent most of his life. Washington, 52, was honored Saturday at his former high school, Boys and Girls, where his number 31 was retired, Finney said. Rafael Addison and Wendell Alexis, former teammates of Washington's, attended the ceremony, along with Washington's mother and other family members.

Syracuse players have worn orange jerseys with white script letters spelling out "Pearl" this season. Washington had been thrilled to see those jerseys, Finney said.

Washington and his family have been overwhelmed by the support, the kind gestures and good wishes of everyone associated with the Syracuse basketball program, including Orange fans who have kept Washington in their thoughts since his diagnosis was made public, Finney said.