At just eight years old, Dwayne Washington was a child prodigy in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn. With a flair for basketball that was unrivaled, it's where older players asked the question: "Who do you think you are, the Pearl?"

Once the nickname exclusive to Earl Monroe, Washington would carry "the Pearl" into a golden era for the Big East conference, earning the recognition as the young conference's most electrifying player.

"You can't talk about the Big East and not talk about Pearl Washington," said ESPN analyst and former Washington Post sportswriter Michael Wilbon. "He's in the first paragraph. He's in the first line."

"He was the most exciting player who ever played in the Big East," said his coach Jim Boeheim, and few who saw him in person would dispute the claim.

Averaging 35 points a game at Boys & Girls HS, with a high of 82 points in a single game, Washington was not only a folk hero in New York, but among the nation's most prized recruit. With as many as 300 offers, Washington made his decision at halftime of a nationally televised game between St. John's and DePaul on Feb. 20, 1983, disappointing St. John's fans with news he had chosen to play at Syracuse.

"I can't underscore how big a moment that was for our program," Boeheim said in 2011. "I believe at that point we officially went from being an Eastern program to a national program. Everybody knew who the Pearl was. I'd get off of a plane in L.A. and somebody would say, 'There's Pearl's coach.' He was the guy who opened the door for us and enabled us to land recruits not just from the East Coast or the Midwest but from the entire country."

"Washington was not particularly fast, nor could he jump particularly high," wrote the Associated Press. "Neither mattered--he simply excited fans with his amazing ball-handling skills, an uncanny court sense, elusiveness, and the ability to pull off unbelievable plays at the right time."

On the dribble, few is anyone could touch him. As a freshman, the Pearl was an instant star, averaging 55 percent from the floor en route to the Big East All-Freshman and Rookie of the Year honors. He scored 27 in the Big East final against Georgetown and collected 18 assists at St. John's, but Washington's most famous moment came on Jan. 21, 1984 before 30,294 at the Carrier Dome versus Boston College. Tied at 73 with four seconds left, BC's Martin Clark misses a free throw which sends the Carrier Dome into delirium. On the run, Washington launches a half court shot for the win, and kept running straight into the locker room. Al Albert on the USA Network made the call:

 

Syracuse finished the 1983-84 season ranked #18 nationally and Washington kept them in the Top 20 over his next two years. With a team with only one senior, and a step behind Georgetown, St. John's and Villanova in the Big East race, Washington kept the turnstiles in Syracuse humming. it was suggested the Pearl was the main reason for a 30 percent increase in average attendance from 20,401 per game in 1981-82, the year before he arrived, to 26,225 in 1984-85. No Syracuse game had ever topped 30,000 before the Pearl arrived--he did it 15 times in three years. Over one week where Syracuse faced Georgetown and Villanova, the Pearl helped draw a combined total of 64,749 fans in consecutive games.

Ranked as high as fifth nationally, the 84-85 Orangemen made it to the second round of the NCAA tournament, with Washington named All-Big East and second team All-America.

The 1985-86 season may have been Washington's finest. Syracuse spent much of the year ranked #4 and washington led the way with a 17 point average. he led the team in scoring in each of last 13 games of the season, including 33 versus Villanova and 35 against St. John's at Madison Square Garden, as the Pearl often saved his best moves for the home town crowd. A repeat selection as first-time All-Big East, Washington stood ready to cap his brilliant career with a game winning drive in the final moments of the 1986 Big East tournament, only to have his shot blocked by another New York prep legend, Walter Berry of St. John's.

After a stunning loss to Navy in the 1986 NCAA tournament, Washington became the first Jim Boeheim-coached player at Syracuse to leave early for the NBA draft, laving Syracuse as the #5-ranked scorer in school history and its all-time leader in assists. One of three underclassmen selected in the first round of 1986 draft, Washington was picked 13th by the New Jersey Nets. His style was a poor fit for the Nets, who assigned him to the 1988 expansion draft just two years into his pro career, where he played one season for the Miami Heat before a two year run in the CBA. Five years after the roar of a first round NBA Draft selection, Washington's career was over.

Washington later returned to Syracuse and completed his bachelor's degree. In 2005, Washington was named to the Big East's All-25th Anniversary team along with Patrick Ewing, Chris Mullin, Derrick Coleman, and Ray Allen. Following the return of a malignant brain tumor first diagnosed in 1995, Washington died in 2016 at the age of 52.

Earvin (Magic) Johnson called Washington "the best ball handler I've ever seen in my lifetime."

"Pearl was one of the great phenoms of my era," said Ewing. "To me, he's one of the great college athletes of all time."

"Pearl Washington was one of the fiercest competitors I ever faced and such a wonderful gentleman who will truly be missed," said Mullin. "He will always be remembered as one of the all-time great players in New York City basketball history. There are so many fond memories that I have of Pearl from our time growing up in Brooklyn and then as Big East rivals, but what stands out most was his genuine and caring nature."

"Everybody says that Patrick Ewing and Chris Mullin made the Big East, but I think Pearl made the league," Boeheim said. "They were the best players, but Pearl was the player that people turned out to see and turned on their TVs to watch."