New London — Craig “Chop” Parker, the most successful coach in the history of New London High School basketball, announced his retirement Thursday morning.

Parker, 70, won four state titles and entered the 500-win club this past season, his 29th as head coach, during a career that produced 13 seasons with at least 20 wins and 11 trips to the state semifinals.

“I’m 70 years old now,” Parker said. “I had a goal I wanted to accomplish (the 500-win club). But mostly, I’m leaving because I didn’t like the atmosphere in the athletic department.”

Parker said athletic director Phil Orbe imposed several job standards Parker considered “unfair,” including filming games on Hudl (a software company coaches and athletes use to watch game film and amass highlights), take a more active role in the players’ academic progress and college plans and explain any technical fouls he incurred.

Parker left the bench in the fourth quarter of a game in January that the Whalers eventually lost to St. Bernard. He said he believed any violation, including a technical foul, would have resulted in his termination as head coach.

“I didn’t deserve to be treated the way I was treated,” Parker said. “I feel like I have a standalone career as far as basketball coaches go in this area.”

Orbe said Thursday he had not yet seen the contents of Parker’s retirement letter and thought it inappropriate to comment on a personnel matter.

Parker led the Whalers to the Eastern Connecticut Conference Division I title game and to the state semifinals this past season.

He won his 500th game on Jan. 10, 29 years after winning his first game as the program’s head coach at Norwich Free Academy on Dec. 20, 1994. Parker had been an assistant under Ralph Roggero before former athletic director Jim O’Neill named Parker head coach in the spring of 1994.

The Whalers won a state title in Parker’s first season, staging one of the biggest upsets in the history of the state tournament. New London edged Trinity Catholic in the finals at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, denying UConn-bound Rashamel Jones and Rutgers-bound Earl Johnson a title for which they were heavily favored.

“Coach did it for a long time and accomplished a lot,” said former NFA and Ledyard coach Dave Cornish, who was Parker’s longtime assistant, in a post on Twitter. “I’m proud to have been part of his third and fourth state championship teams — teams that went 26-0 and 27-0. Tremendous respect for this man.”

Parker won three more state titles, the last of which came in 2011, future NBA guard Kris Dunn’s junior season, with an undefeated team and No. 1 state ranking.

“There’s a lot I’ll remember,” Parker said. “Many games, gyms and memories. But most of all I’ll remember the kids I coached.”

m.dimauro@theday.com