Forgive J.C. Mathis if he hasn’t yet replied to your message.

There have been hundreds, he says, relaying appreciation and support for his father, the HS coaching legend Johnny Mathis, 80, who died Thursday morning after doctors couldn’t stabilize his blood pressure.

One caller told J.C. how his father saved him from the trappings of the projects in the Bronx, investing time and commitment to a player who wasn’t very good but needed the structure and confidence. It resulted in a college career and enough financial aid that he needed only to pay for books.

Another former player explained how an accident left him with a disabled arm and depressed, contemplating drug use with his friends.

Mathis, a community center athletic director at the time, had simple advice:

“Play basketball with your left hand.”

“He said your father really empowered me and he literally saved my life,” J.C. recalls. “He said, ‘I would’ve been doing heroin with my friends if it wasn’t for him.’”

“The amount of people reaching out is completely overwhelming,” J.C. adds. “Hundreds of people who have texted or called. I’ve been trying my best to answer everybody back. But it’s been overwhelming. Hundreds of people. It warms my heart.”

Johnny Mathis was many things in his 80 years. A star player. A husband. A father of 4. A recreational therapist at the Bronx Psychiatric Center. But most knew him as JFK’s basketball coach.

Through 35 years, Mathis amassed over 700 victories, ranking third in PSAL history. He won the Bronx Boro championship seven times — most recently in 2019 — and two City titles, including with his son, J.C., as the star player in 2000.

“We were best friends,” says J.C., 40, who also played at the University of Michigan and professionally in the G League. “And to do that together — me and him together had been striving for years, trying to win that championship — it was probably the best moment of our shared lives.”

Johnny Mathis was many things in his 80 years. A star player. A husband. A father of 4. A recreational therapist at the Bronx Psychiatric Center. But most knew him as JFK’s basketball coach.

Through 35 years, Mathis amassed over 700 victories, ranking third in PSAL history. He won the Bronx Boro championship seven times — most recently in 2019 — and two City titles, including with his son, J.C., as the star player in 2000.

Johnny Mathis’s connection with NYC hoops, the soul of the city, makes it a little surprising that he grew up elsewhere. A Georgia native, Mathis is a product of the Jim Crow South and wasn’t allowed to play on an indoor court until college. Nonetheless, the 6-7 forward starred at Savannah State, where Mathis averaged roughly 27 points and 14 boards as a senior. He then played professionally for the Allentown Jets, the New Jersey Americans of the ABA (the franchise that later became the Brooklyn Nets), and was invited to a couple NBA training camps.

But his first taste of NYC ball was at Rucker Park in Harlem, where Mathis dominated the Rucker Pro League and was named to the organization’s Hall of Fame.

In 1987 — following a brief stint as an assistant at Oyster Bay HS — Mathis took over the JFK program and guided it through the 2021-22 campaign. His name synonymous with the team, the school renamed its gym, “Coach Mathis Arena,” in 2009.

Health issues became more of a concern and hindrance to Mathis’s coaching in recent years, specifically the pain from arthritis and gout. Roughly 3 ½ weeks ago, Mathis started feeling exceptionally fatigued, J.C. says, which prompted the hospital visit and diagnosis of low blood pressure.

He died after not responding to treatment, J.C. says.

Mathis is survived by his wife, Marsha, and four children, Dina, Sheila, J.C. and Jarrett. The youngest, Jarrett, played basketball at Dartmouth.

J.C. was JFK’s assistant coach for Mathis’s final seasons. Just last month, Mathis was inducted into the Bronx Basketball Hall of Fame alongside Michele Roberts, Jamal Mashburn and Cal Ramsey, among others.

“He’s my hero, my mentor,” says J.C.