Basketball Star Dead At 52

Way before the travel teams, the AAU leagues, the huge camps run by shoe companies to develop high school basketball stars, there was the playground and word of mouth.

Dwayne Washington was one of the last whose rep was built solely on those playgrounds in Brooklyn, N.Y., without electronic hype or flashy all-star teams at phony prep schools that are simply basketball factories. So smooth, he was nicknamed “Pearl” after Earl “The Pearl” Monroe.

Washington, who starred at Syracuse University and really helped launch its program and the successes of the Big East Conference in the 1980s, died Wednesday of a brain tumor. He was 52.

Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim always said that Washington, who was the No. 1 recruit in the country in 1983, turned the Orange into a national program as a three-time All-American.

Washington never really enjoyed success in the NBA. A first-round pick – 13th overall by the New Jersey Nets in 1986 – he spent only two seasons with them and one with the expansion Miami Heat. His game just didn’t translate to the NBA.

Washington first battled a brain tumor in 1995 and had been in ill health most of the last year with the same ailment. This past season’s Syracuse team honored him by wearing shirts that said “Pearl” and “31,” his number that had been retired in 1996.

He was really quite a treat to watch in the Big East’s formative days, earning tournament MVP honors in a season in which Syracuse lost the final by a point to St. John’s. Washington was terrific at handing out assists and making steals and he had a wonderful crossover move.

He was a great part of basketball history. He’ll be missed.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman