Bernard "Red" Sarachek, the beloved coach of Yeshiva University's basketball team in its hey-day, passed away on Monday. Sarachek, a member of the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame and the longtime coach of the Yeshiva University basketball team, died after a lengthy illness in Deerfield Beach, Florida. Although not necessarily the cause of his death, Sarachek was left without food, water and electricity for five days following the hurricane that struck Florida last month. "Red" was known as a coach of coaches, and of players. "He taught more high school and college coaches in [the New York metro area] than anybody," former St. John's coach Lou Carnesecca once said of Sarachek. "Red is the guru." Each year, Yeshiva University holds a high school basketball invitational named for Sarachek. The Red Sarachek Basketball Tournament, which takes place each spring, attracts Jewish high school basketball teams from as far away as Los Angeles and Toronto. Marvin Hershkowitz, one of the legendary coach’s former players, who now lives in Israel, said that Sarachek "was the most influential person in my life. He was an excellent teacher and he was like a parent to me. He took care of his players off the court as well as on it, and if we needed anything he would work for us tirelessly to make it happen." Although not strictly observant, "Red taught us to be good Jews and to be gentlemen." Hershkowitz, who last spoke with Sarachek two weeks ago, recalled the coach's private crusade to enforce the Orthodoxy of his Flatbush synagogue. "They had a vote on the Mechitza - divider separating men and women during prayer – and Red called up all of his buddies and brought them all to the meeting to vote on it." Several of Sarachek's former players have moved to Israel. "He loved Israel, and many years ago when we played an Israeli team in Madison Square Garden he was thrilled to play them," Hershkowitz said. "He was very proud of several of us when we decided to make Aliyah [immigrate to Israel]." Sarachek coached the YU team from 1942 to 1943 and again from 1945 to 1969. When professional basketball was in its infancy in the 1940s, Sarachek simultaneously coached the Scranton Miners of the American Basketball League and a team representing Herkimer, NY in the New York State League. Sarachek led both teams to championships at the same time he was coaching the Yeshiva University team. With the Scranton team in the late 40s, Sarachek broke the league's segregation rules by playing Dolly King, William "Pop" Gates, and Eddie Younger at the same time. Pop Gates went on to a stellar pro career that led to international fame with the Harlem Globetrotters and eventual enshrinement in the NBA Hall of Fame. The current YU basketball coach, Jon Halpert, now in his 34th season as coach, played for Coach Sarachek from 1962-1966. Halpert said the key thing to know about Sarachek was that he believed in the truth. "If you made a bad play, you heard about it," Halpert said. "He did what he thought was right and he said what he thought was right. That was Red."
