BoeheimPearl4.20.16
Jim Boeheim Press Conference
April 20, 2016
“It’s been a really tough day. I think we’ve all known this way coming, but it doesn’t make it any easier. I think back on Pearl Washington, when I first saw him play, I thought he was the most exciting player I’ve ever seen to play the game of basketball. I still think that today. I think we’ve been fortunate, we’ve had a lot of great players, but there’s really only one guy like him. He was a really humble guy, who not only helped make our program, he helped make the Big East and helped college basketball. He’s a guy that everybody wanted to see play.
People in California who didn’t know me, when I went out there the next year, when Pearl was a freshman, they all knew I was Pearl Washington’s coach. He had an unbelievable effect on our program, and he was an unbelievably humble guy. It’s tough to lose him so soon.”
When was the last time you and Pearl spoke?
“I know he’s been bad. Actually the last time I talked to him was on the phone just as we made the final four. He could barely respond, just a little bit, but he was excited that we were going to go and how the year finished. He was excited about it, he was excited that our players were wearing the shirts, it meant a lot to him. I thought it was a great thing for our players to do. I think they just wanted to do it, I don’t remember if anyone told them to wear them, I didn’t, they just wanted to wear them. I think that meant a lot. I think when you see what guys like Chris Mullin and Patrick (Ewing) say about him, it says a lot.”
What did he mean to you personally? Talk about the program, the Big East, you personally?
“He’s just a great kid. Our players who play here are like family but you know it’s like any family, you get closer to some guys than others, it’s just the way it works. It was never about Pearl, it was never about what he did or didn’t do. He was just a unique player, but really a unique person. I just think we were lucky to have him. I was really lucky to coach him.”
You mention what an amazing person he was. How does this enhance the legacy of this amazing player?
‘To me it’s what you are, that’s what’s important. We’ve had a lot of great people, a lot of great players. Pearl is just unique. It’s a word I don’t like to use, but he’s a unique player. He brought something people wanted to watch. The Dome was relatively new. I don’t know the numbers, but when Pearl came the numbers changed. People wanted to come to see him play. They wanted to come to see Syracuse, but they wanted to come to see Pearl Washington.
My two sons and I stay up at night until 10:30 many nights to watch Steph Curry play because he’s just not a player he’s different. He is exciting, and that’s what people tell me all the time, they stayed up to watch Pearl Washington and they made it a point to see Pearl Washington play. I’ve heard great players, like Tim Hardaway for one, say ‘I learned my cross-overs from Pearl, that’s where I got it’ and many, many players have told me that.”
A lot of your former players, like Derrick Coleman, said Pearl was the reason they came to Syracuse. Can you talk about how he impacted that?
“There’s no doubt, his excitement, what he did on the court, was what got people excited about Syracuse basketball. And from that, everything flows. Derrick Coleman, Carmelo Anthony, it all flows down that same path. He did a lot for this program and off the court in terms of what it was going to be. It all started when Pearl came here -- the Big East, the Carrier Dome -- everything came together and he’s the only guy that overnight could fill a place like that. People want to see that. He’s the only player I’ve ever watched during a game instead of watching what I was supposed to be watching.”
What type of coaching did it take to make Pearl a better player?
“You just had to give Pearl the framework and he understood what he needed to do with that framework and he was unselfish. With a player like that you just give him that framework and don’t give him too much, you just let him play and have the freedom he needs to be effective, and he did that. He was a difficult guy, the Big East was at its peak then and he was the toughest guy in the league to guard. I don’t think there’s a question about that.”
Can you talk about the first time you watched him play, and the recruitment of getting him to come here?
“Well, the first time I saw him was at the Wheelchair Classic in Brooklyn. I got there at 7 o’clock for a 9 o’clock game he was playing in. People were there at 4 o’clock in the afternoon. He was a sophomore, going into his junior year- they had seniors with one or two sophomores playing and Pearl was one of them. People were standing there for hours and when he came out the place was electric. Everybody was standing, nobody was sitting. The first time I saw him I think he had 46 (points) against seniors, he just destroyed everybody. He was just that kind of player and I haven’t seen anything like that before or since.”
How did it make you feel that some of the younger guys on the team this year really took to those t-shirts? Honoring him even though they may have not really known him?
“I thought it was great, like I said I just saw them wearing them. I don’t even know how they got them, or what they were thinking. I never told them to wear them, they just wore them and kept wearing them. I think people know they legend. There’s not really many legends.”
Were you taken back by his humility? A lot of people would expect a New York City point guard to be kind of brash?
“Yes. He was just kind of completely different off of the court. I don’t think people understood that for a while. He was never about that. He was as humble as anybody I’ve ever known. He was one of a kind. we’re fortunate that we had him here.
April 20, 2016
“It’s been a really tough day. I think we’ve all known this way coming, but it doesn’t make it any easier. I think back on Pearl Washington, when I first saw him play, I thought he was the most exciting player I’ve ever seen to play the game of basketball. I still think that today. I think we’ve been fortunate, we’ve had a lot of great players, but there’s really only one guy like him. He was a really humble guy, who not only helped make our program, he helped make the Big East and helped college basketball. He’s a guy that everybody wanted to see play.
People in California who didn’t know me, when I went out there the next year, when Pearl was a freshman, they all knew I was Pearl Washington’s coach. He had an unbelievable effect on our program, and he was an unbelievably humble guy. It’s tough to lose him so soon.”
When was the last time you and Pearl spoke?
“I know he’s been bad. Actually the last time I talked to him was on the phone just as we made the final four. He could barely respond, just a little bit, but he was excited that we were going to go and how the year finished. He was excited about it, he was excited that our players were wearing the shirts, it meant a lot to him. I thought it was a great thing for our players to do. I think they just wanted to do it, I don’t remember if anyone told them to wear them, I didn’t, they just wanted to wear them. I think that meant a lot. I think when you see what guys like Chris Mullin and Patrick (Ewing) say about him, it says a lot.”
What did he mean to you personally? Talk about the program, the Big East, you personally?
“He’s just a great kid. Our players who play here are like family but you know it’s like any family, you get closer to some guys than others, it’s just the way it works. It was never about Pearl, it was never about what he did or didn’t do. He was just a unique player, but really a unique person. I just think we were lucky to have him. I was really lucky to coach him.”
You mention what an amazing person he was. How does this enhance the legacy of this amazing player?
‘To me it’s what you are, that’s what’s important. We’ve had a lot of great people, a lot of great players. Pearl is just unique. It’s a word I don’t like to use, but he’s a unique player. He brought something people wanted to watch. The Dome was relatively new. I don’t know the numbers, but when Pearl came the numbers changed. People wanted to come to see him play. They wanted to come to see Syracuse, but they wanted to come to see Pearl Washington.
My two sons and I stay up at night until 10:30 many nights to watch Steph Curry play because he’s just not a player he’s different. He is exciting, and that’s what people tell me all the time, they stayed up to watch Pearl Washington and they made it a point to see Pearl Washington play. I’ve heard great players, like Tim Hardaway for one, say ‘I learned my cross-overs from Pearl, that’s where I got it’ and many, many players have told me that.”
A lot of your former players, like Derrick Coleman, said Pearl was the reason they came to Syracuse. Can you talk about how he impacted that?
“There’s no doubt, his excitement, what he did on the court, was what got people excited about Syracuse basketball. And from that, everything flows. Derrick Coleman, Carmelo Anthony, it all flows down that same path. He did a lot for this program and off the court in terms of what it was going to be. It all started when Pearl came here -- the Big East, the Carrier Dome -- everything came together and he’s the only guy that overnight could fill a place like that. People want to see that. He’s the only player I’ve ever watched during a game instead of watching what I was supposed to be watching.”
What type of coaching did it take to make Pearl a better player?
“You just had to give Pearl the framework and he understood what he needed to do with that framework and he was unselfish. With a player like that you just give him that framework and don’t give him too much, you just let him play and have the freedom he needs to be effective, and he did that. He was a difficult guy, the Big East was at its peak then and he was the toughest guy in the league to guard. I don’t think there’s a question about that.”
Can you talk about the first time you watched him play, and the recruitment of getting him to come here?
“Well, the first time I saw him was at the Wheelchair Classic in Brooklyn. I got there at 7 o’clock for a 9 o’clock game he was playing in. People were there at 4 o’clock in the afternoon. He was a sophomore, going into his junior year- they had seniors with one or two sophomores playing and Pearl was one of them. People were standing there for hours and when he came out the place was electric. Everybody was standing, nobody was sitting. The first time I saw him I think he had 46 (points) against seniors, he just destroyed everybody. He was just that kind of player and I haven’t seen anything like that before or since.”
How did it make you feel that some of the younger guys on the team this year really took to those t-shirts? Honoring him even though they may have not really known him?
“I thought it was great, like I said I just saw them wearing them. I don’t even know how they got them, or what they were thinking. I never told them to wear them, they just wore them and kept wearing them. I think people know they legend. There’s not really many legends.”
Were you taken back by his humility? A lot of people would expect a New York City point guard to be kind of brash?
“Yes. He was just kind of completely different off of the court. I don’t think people understood that for a while. He was never about that. He was as humble as anybody I’ve ever known. He was one of a kind. we’re fortunate that we had him here.
