In many ways, after receiving a brain cancer diagnosis in 2011, Ian Progin shouldn’t have lived as long as he did, and yet it wasn’t nearly long enough by any stretch of the imagination.
Through it all he kept coaching, took on new challenges, spent plenty of time with his family, and more. Sadly, he passed away Friday, at the age of 47. The news was first reported by Jerry Carino of Gannett New Jersey.
Progin was a 1996 graduate of Hillsborough High School, played college basketball at Widener, and later transferred to Rutgers as a walk-on. After his eligibility expired, he also became a member of the Sports department at the campus radio station, 88.7 FM WRSU, where he was an analyst on basketball broadcasts; he graduated with a degree in Journalism and Mass Media.
He went back to Rutgers to become a teacher, and earned his Master’s from Rider, then came back to Hillsborough as a guidance counselor, also becoming the school’s head basketball coach.
The cancer diagnosis came in the midst of that 12-year run as basketball coach, in 2011. It was a glioblastoma brain tumor – stage four – with a five-year survival rate. But it didn’t stop him, or his program. He coached all through his treatment. And it paid off with an upset of top-seed Gill St. Bernard’s to win the 2014 Somerset County Tournament, then an amazing run to the Central Jersey Group 4 title in 2015, before stepping down.
Oh, and he even coached his son’s travel league.
It wasn’t long after his diagnosis that good friend Kris Grundy – who started at Montgomery around the same time as Progin at Hillsborough – began the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, which this year raised $20,000 for the Rutgers Cancer Institute, according to Carino’s story.
But even after stepping down, Ian couldn’t stay away long. After a year, he came back and coached the girls’ basketball team from 2016 to 2020 – predecessor to current coach Courtney Tierney – while also coaching gymnastics for three seasons.
Back in March, though he couldn’t attend, Progin was inducted into the Hillsborough Athletics Hall of Fame.
Ian leaves behind his wife of 20 years, Courtney, and two children. His daughter, Payton, will graduate from Hillsborough High School this June, before heading to the University of Vermont. His son, Jeffrey, is a sophomore at Hillsborough. You can find the full obituary here.
According to his obituary, a memorial service to celebrate Ian’s life will be held this Tuesday, May 6th, at Mary Mother of God Church in Hillsborough. Visitation will be from 9:30 to 11:30 am, with a mass immediately to follow. Burial and repast will be private.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in Ian’s memory to Imagine, whose mission is to “support children and families coping with loss and to foster resiliency and emotional well-being for all those who grieve”
We’ll have additional comments from coaches and former players in a story that will be out Tuesday morning, including an interview following the 2015 Central Jersey Group 4 title win over Freehold Township.