@syrbasketball: Report on Pearl Washington from @PeterVecsey1 -- Former Syracuse basketball star has malignant brain tumor |http://t.co/Uvfn1x5Q2N
Pearl Washington Illness
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I've lost two friends in the past two years to this. Both were athletes in superb shape, and one was the toughest guy in the schoolyard and fiercest competitor when we were kids. If it's a glioblastoma, it's a really rough road ahead. His best hope is that it's operable, and that the brain tumor is the primary source and not originating elsewhere. This is really sad news.
Washington was every bit as good a collegiate player as was billed. I always thought that perhaps he was too good in college and HS, because he didn't have to round out his game, have a legitimate jump shot with range, etc.
FWIW, the nickname Pearl wasn't his first. In the schoolyards he was known as Pac-Man, because he could change direction at will and zip all over the court. Teammates, though, called him Olivehead, for obvious reasons.
Prayers go out.
Washington was every bit as good a collegiate player as was billed. I always thought that perhaps he was too good in college and HS, because he didn't have to round out his game, have a legitimate jump shot with range, etc.
FWIW, the nickname Pearl wasn't his first. In the schoolyards he was known as Pac-Man, because he could change direction at will and zip all over the court. Teammates, though, called him Olivehead, for obvious reasons.
Prayers go out.
Sorry to hear about Pearl. He was a helluva college player and I remember hoping that he would go to SJU out of high school, but that was not to be. I'll always remember the Pearl -Berry one on one at the end of the 1986 Big East championship game and how SJU came back from 19 down to win it. I still have the tape and watch it from time to time. My prayers are with him.
Pearl was a good pro, a great college player and a mind boggling high school player. Prior to the 1983 season Pearl and Boy's High played St. Agnes of Rockville Centre in an exhibition game.
Boy's High was a top PSAL team year in and year out and St. Agnes had developed a reputation under coach Frank Morris scoring tons of points playing run and gun style basketball. Back then a game between a NYCHS and a LI team was rare so the game attracted some attention. I was unable to get to the game but a buddy and SJU fan went to see Pearl who was being recruited by SJU.
Boy's High crushed St. Agnes, Pearl scored 65 and was more impressive on defense. Billy Donovan was unable to get the ball across half court. Boy's High rubbed it in and Pearl went to Syr.
Boy's High was a top PSAL team year in and year out and St. Agnes had developed a reputation under coach Frank Morris scoring tons of points playing run and gun style basketball. Back then a game between a NYCHS and a LI team was rare so the game attracted some attention. I was unable to get to the game but a buddy and SJU fan went to see Pearl who was being recruited by SJU.
Boy's High crushed St. Agnes, Pearl scored 65 and was more impressive on defense. Billy Donovan was unable to get the ball across half court. Boy's High rubbed it in and Pearl went to Syr.
I heard about that game from somebody I who was a couple of years behind me at St. John's who went to St. Agnes.
Morris was a good coach and was unceremoniously dumped when St. Agnes became Kellenberg the year after making the from RVC to Maria Regina's campus in Uniondale.
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Pearl was a great college player but a very deficient pro. It was astounding that Mark Jackson had the excellent NBA career and Washington didn't. I remember watching St. John's last regular season game vs. Syracuse during Washington and Jackson's senior year, and thought how pathetic Jackson looked trying to guard Pearl, who beat him again and again off the dribble with an assortment of stutter steps, head and ball fakes, and crossovers. I thought it was completely an unfair matchup, as Washington was the only guard (or player) in college ball who could take Ewing to the hole, freeze them, and then score off of him. Amazing college player whose "jump shot" was an awkward push set shot. Magic Johnson had a pretty horrible set shot when he arrived in the pros, but at 6'9" and an otherwise incredible skill set, Johnson was an instant star even without the jump shot at first.
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Pearl, like our own Kevin Williams, also stood up to Ewing and the Hoyas in their own epic battles vs. Georgetown - another tough NYC kid that Ewing backed down from when challenged.
Ewing was always public enemy number 1. Lots of college teams (including Kentucky) wilted when confronted with Georgetown's pressure defense anchored by Ewing. Not Syracuse, and certainly not Washington. Al McGuire (another tough NYC guard) always sang Pearl's praises. I always wished we had snared him, but we did just fine in landing the third best point guard in NYC in Jackson. Of course, Jackson's NBA accomplishments dwarfed those of both Washington and Kenny Smith, who were both considered far better than Jackson.
Ewing was always public enemy number 1. Lots of college teams (including Kentucky) wilted when confronted with Georgetown's pressure defense anchored by Ewing. Not Syracuse, and certainly not Washington. Al McGuire (another tough NYC guard) always sang Pearl's praises. I always wished we had snared him, but we did just fine in landing the third best point guard in NYC in Jackson. Of course, Jackson's NBA accomplishments dwarfed those of both Washington and Kenny Smith, who were both considered far better than Jackson.