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Jon Neiss played at Sarachek as a junior for MTA in the second year of the tournament. His son Yishai, a junior, is a starting guard for MTA this year.
It was incredible to be part of one of the first Sarachek tournaments, a rare chance for local NY teams to compete against yeshivas nationwide. The YU gym was packed, especially for the Hillel-MTA championship, which ended on a buzzer-beater. Now, seeing my son and his MTA team compete after a strong season makes it even more special. Go Lions!
Mordy Faber played for the MTA Lions in 1999 and 2000. His son, Yonatan, is a junior playing for TABC. Yonatan hit four 3-pointers in the Storm’s semifinal win as they reached their first Sarachek final.
In 1999, I was part of the MTA varsity basketball team that made an unforgettable run in the prestigious Red Saracheck Tournament. This was a significant year for MTA, as we won the tournament for the last time. It was especially exciting since that same year, Tamir Goodman, known as the "Jewish Jordan," graced the cover of Sports Illustrated.
Our journey to the title was filled with challenges. On Friday, we faced off against Hyman Brand from Kansas and managed to overcome a 13-point deficit to secure a hard-fought victory. On Sunday, we played against YULA, where I unfortunately tore cartilage in my knee toward the end of the game. Despite the injury, I pushed through and returned to the court on Monday, ready to compete in the championship game against Hillel.
The championship win was a momentous achievement, and it meant so much to be part of such an incredible team. To this day, Saracheck remains the greatest Jewish basketball tournament, and it’s surreal to now watch my own son compete in the same tournament I played in 25 years ago. It’s a full-circle moment that I’ll always cherish.
Akiva Greenfield played for Valley Torah in 1999 and 2000. His son is a senior playing this year for the YULA Panthers.
Playing in the Sarachek Tournament was an incredible experience and knowing that Michael and his friends are going to have life-long memories created from this weekend is special. I remember all the details and although it was 26 years ago it feels like 26 minutes ago. Thank you to Yeshiva University for hosting this incredible weekend and creating an atmosphere that is both competitive and unifying.
Jon Kaweblum played in the Sarachek Tournament for Scheck Hillel Miami in 1998 and 1999. His son Abie Kaweblum is a junior at Katz Yeshiva High School playing this year in his first Sarachek Tournament.
I was the starting point guard for the Hillel Hurricanes from Miami, FL and played in two Sarachek tournaments.
In 1998 we played our second Tier 1 game against a skinny unknown 10th grade kid from Baltimore who scored what felt like a quiet 40 points on us. That was Tamir Goodman and it was the year before the Sports Illustrated article came out proclaiming him the ‘Jewish Jordan’, so no one really knew about him yet. It made it really cool that the next year once he became known that we had played him the year earlier.
In 1999 we entered the tournament as either the 8th or 9th seed (I don't remember). After beating Berman from Silver Spring we faced the #1 ranked HAFTR team on Friday. I believe we were down 17 in the first half and came back to win. There is nothing like going into Shabbos at Sarachek still alive in the tournament.
Then on Sunday in the Tier 1 semifinal game against Valley Torah we were down 1 in the closing seconds and we hit a 3-point shot, sending us to the championship for the first time. We faced off against MTA and although we kept it close in the first quarter they beat us pretty handily in the end. I’ll never forget that moment. The gym was packed to capacity and it was an amazing experience because none of us had ever played in front of that many people.
Five years later I became the coach for Katz Yeshiva High School in Boca Raton and ended up coaching there for 8 years. That Sarachek championship run that I was a part of in high school forged a strong foundation in my coaching as it clearly showed me what it takes to win at the highest levels of Jewish ball. I returned to Sarachek many times as a coach, winning the Tier 2 championship once and just coming a buzzer shot away from reaching Tier 1 in a game against Rambam of Baltimore.
Then in 2023 I had the privilege of returning to Sarachek as a Dad, getting to watch my 11th grade son Jake go 3-1 but losing to that year's champion Valley Torah. This year I'm back at Sarachek as a dad and coach once again. The head coach of Katz graciously asked me to sit on his bench as a 3rd coach and I am happy to do what I can to help the team. It is also a great front row seat to watch my 11th grade son Abie play on the biggest stage of Jewish High School basketball.
Jon Rich is the coach of his alma mater Ida Crown Jewish Academy and played in Sarachek 1995. Junior Aiden Rich is playing this year in his first Sarachek.
In 1995, I had the privilege of participating in the YU Sarachek Tournament as a player for the Ida Crown Aces. We had a very talented team and won 3 of our 4 games but lost in the semifinals to the eventual champions, MTA (squandering a 4th quarter lead).
To this very day, my teammates and friends from that team still lament the loss and genuinely believe we were the most talented team to not win the tournament. However, despite the painful defeat, we had a great experience and it began a tradition of Ida Crown students attending the tournament nearly every subsequent year. In fact, sometimes it feels like the Sarachek tournament is all any of the players want to talk about at the beginning of each basketball season.
On a personal note, I represented Ida Crown on that 1995 team in the annual Sarachek three-point shoot-out (which sadly no longer takes place)…and somehow I won first place. In fact, I have a vague memory of Jon Bandler himself handing me the champion’s trophy (which was like 3 feet tall!)
Incredibly, 30 years later (wow) I have the privilege of not only returning to coach my alma mater at this tournament, but my very own son (Aiden Rich) is a junior on our team. The fact that something like this can even happen is pretty darn special and a testament to Yeshiva University’s incredible legacy in many notable areas, including investing in Jewish high school students from across North America. While I hope my son enjoys his experience on the court, even more so I look forward to him immersing himself in the entire extended weekend of networking and meeting students from other schools, experiencing a special shabbos in the hotel, and feeling the electric energy of Yeshiva University.