After 42 years of service, Johnny Halpert will coach his final game for the Yeshiva University men’s basketball team on Feb. 22 against Maritime College, but it won’t be his choice to step aside.
In an email to his formers players obtained by The Post, Halpert said he was told his contract for next season will not be renewed. Halpert wrote President Richard M. Joel requested he retire follow this season. After responding in November that he wasn’t ready to do so, Halpert received a letter of termination, stating that while his services were “deeply appreciated,” they were no longer wanted.
“I have absolutely no intention of engaging in any speculation as to why I have been fired; only the president can answer that question,” said Halpert, the two-time Skyline Conference Coach of the Year who received the National Association of Basketball Coaches “Guardians of the Game” honor in 2003-04.
Halpert led the Maccabees to 415 victories and in a 15-year span (from 1987-2002), Yeshiva never had a losing season. The Maccabees currently are 6-16 overall and 4-11 in the league.
In 2012, Yeshiva University honored Halpert by adding his signature to the men’s basketball court at the Max Stern Athletic Center on the Wilf Campus in Manhattan and by launching the Coach Jonathan Halpert Scholarship Fund, which awards scholarships annually to children of Yeshiva alumni living in Israel wishing to study at the school.
Later that year, he became the seventh men’s basketball coach in New York City history to record 400 victories. In January, Halpert published a memoir, titled “Are You Still Coaching?” about his storied career at Yeshiva University.
“Although I am obviously very disappointed by his decision I will never allow one decision made by one person in one moment of time to negate the wonderful experiences and associations that I have enjoyed over the past forty two years,” he said. “My love and admiration for Yeshiva University, its administrators, faculty and students remain as strong as ever.
“I want to take this opportunity to thank each of you for your friendship and support. I will always cherish the moments that we have shared together and will never forget your warm words of appreciation. May our friendship continue to grow.”
A Yeshiva University spokesman said the school doesn’t comment on personnel matters.