DANVERS – St. John’s Prep basketball coach Dan Letarte has informed the administration at St. John’s Prep that he is stepping down.Letarte, who has coached at The Prep for over a decade, told athletic director Jim O’Leary that he wanted to devote more time to his family.”That’s basically it,” said Letarte, whose sons are 7 and 9 and developing an interest in sports all on their own.”It’s never an easy decision to make, especially this late in the fall season,” he said. “But we had such a wonderful night at Fenway Park Monday, watching the walk-off win, the four of us (including his wife), and I just realized I missed that and wanted to do more things with my family.”This isn’t to say I won’t be back at some point,” he said. “I’m sure I will be, somewhere down the line.”Letarte has a record of 169-98 in 12 years at The Prep after taking over for Kevin McCann, and made the state tournament 11 times, including the last seven years. The Eagles have also won three Catholic Conference titles during his tenure.The program has also produced several elite players under Letarte, including Mike Howlett, who now attends the University of Pennsylvania; and Ryan O’Connell, who is at Bowdoin.”Danny is one of the good guys,” O’Leary said. “We will miss him, but we support him in whatever decisions he makes.”Letarte is a teacher at the school, and also is a freshman baseball coach – something he will continue to do in the spring.”He has raised our basketball program up in a big way,” O’Leary said.Letarte said that one of the things he liked best about coaching at The Prep was competing against Classical and its coach, Tom Grassa.”I talked to him, and I told him how much admiration I had for him coaching for 30 years,” he said. “I’ll miss coaching against Tommy.”He also said that O’Leary and his assistant, Ann Edgerton, “have been great people to work for. I couldn’t ask for any better.”Letarte, who played baseball and basketball at The Prep, received the Robert S. Pierce Award last winter, which was presented by IAABO Board 130 of the local basketball referees for his continued sportsmanship on the court.