HS HOOPS: Someone should reach out to ex-Montclair Prep staffer Howard Abrams

In the wake of Montclair Prep cancelling its sports programs on Monday, I just got off the phone with assistant A.D./assistant basketball coach Howard Abrams, a dear friend for 35 years -- he coached my brother, Rob, on Montclair Prep's 1977 Southern Section championship basketball team -- as Abrams is among the coaches and administrators who've been laid off.

Abrams is -- or was -- the school's longest-tenured employee, and the WAY Abrams was dismissed was uncool -- a form letter with no signature that informed him of the specific date to return to the campus to return his keys. Especially after 35 years of service (25 as head coach) and a legacy that included numerous league, section and even a state title.

"I worked there for 35 years, and they spent 43 cents on a postage stamp," Abrams said. "You'd think someone would have called and brought me in."

Someone from another school should reach out to Abrams -- a great coach, a true master of the game, and an absolute helluva guy -- and grant him a job, perhaps even a better one than he had before. For instance, I know Abrams is great friends with P.C. Shaw, a baseball assistant at Harvard-Westlake, and it would be great to see Abrams make the switch to the Wolverines.