Maccabiah Hoops Coach Fired by Virginia Tech

Seth Greenberg, who will coach the U.S. men’s basketball team at the 2013 Maccabiah Games, was fired by Virginia Tech.

The Atlantic Coast Conference school made the announcement on Monday in a news conference.

“We needed to go another direction in our men’s basketball program,” athletic director Jim Weaver said, USA Today reported.

Greenberg, 56, led Virginia Tech to a record of 167-117 in nine seasons. The Hokies made the NCAA tournament in the 2006-07 season and the NIT five times.

Weaver said Greenberg was “shocked” when told he was being fired Monday, USA Today reported. The athletic director also said that the rest of the athletic department had a “family environment” – and the basketball program didn’t.

Greenberg, a member of the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in Commack, N.Y., has won nearly 400 games as the head man at Virginia Tech, South Florida and Long Beach State.

At the Maccabiah Games, the U.S. team under Greenberg will be trying to win its second consecutive gold medal. Greenberg served as an assistant coach for the 1989 men’s basketball team – an experience he has called “life altering.”

In a statement earlier this month on being named coach of the Maccabiah team for the July 2013 Games, Greenberg said, “This volunteer position is important to me because any time you can represent your country and your faith in the same event, it’s something very special.”

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO