Syracuse Basketball: Pearl Washington To Receive Honor At ACC Tournament
The ACC tournament is going to have a lot of meaning for the Syracuse basketball team on the court, but also off the court for Pearl Washington.
The Atlantic Coast Conference will name former Big East and Syracuse star Pearl Washington an ACC Legend at this season’s conference tournament.
Washington, who passed away in April at the age of 52, will receive the honor along with 13 former standout players, as well as the late Jim Valvano, the inspirational N.C. State head coach who guided the Wolfpack on a thrilling run to the 1983 national championship. Valvano died in 1993.
Since 2010, the Atlantic Coast Conference has annually recognized one player from every school that participates in the conference tournament as an ACC Legend. Previously, the conference honored former Syracuse stars Dave Bing and Derrick Coleman.
The class of 2017 inductees, including Washington, will get honored during the ACC Tournament, held March 7-11 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
The location is fitting, given that Washington grew up on the playgrounds of Brooklyn before
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committing to the Orange. He helped turn the ‘Cuse into a national brand. While proving a pivotal figure in the Big East’s rise to college-basketball prominence in the mid-1980s.
Other members of the 2017 ACC Legends class include Boston College’s Troy Bell, Georgia Tech’s Matt Harpring, Wake Forest’s Josh Howard, North Carolina’s Antawn Jamison, Louisville’s Rodney McCray and Duke’s Shelden Williams.
No SU player is more deserving of this recognition, and it will come only a few months after Syracuse declared the Orange’s Dec. 17, 2016, clash with long-time nemesis Georgetown as “Pearl Washington Day.”
However, it does feel a bit weird that Washington, who never suited up for a game in the Atlantic Coast Conference, is receiving this honor. Particularly since in recent years, numerous programs, including the ‘Cuse, bolted the Big East for the ACC.
Regardless, I’m beyond happy for Pearl, and I so wish he could have accepted this award in person. But, I do believe he will be there in spirit.