Long-time Shamokin
coach Probert passes
COAL TOWNSHIP — Bob Probert was a high school basketball coach for more than 50 years. He won awards, was inducted into a sports hall of fame and his teams won numerous trophies and titles.
But Probert, who passed away Friday at the age of 83, won’t be remembered just for his contributions to basketball, according to former Shamokin boys’ basketball coach Joe Klebon.
“He was just a good guy to be around,” Klebon said. “If you told him you needed something he would be there. Those attributes, they’re important when you’re dealing with things.”
A Greater Hazleton Area Sports Hall of Fame member, Probert had a 50-year high school basketball coaching career. Starting at Avon Grove High School, he eventually made it to Shamokin High School in 1961, becoming the boys’ basketball head coach.
He continued coaching boys’ basketball after the Shamokin-Coal Township jointure and finished his head coaching career with 401 wins, seven Susquehanna Valley League titles, a Keystone Big Nine championship and five District 4 championships.
At Shamokin, Probert also taught social studies. Former Shamokin football coach Ed Binkoski was also a social studies teacher and became friends with Probert during their time there.
The dedication that Probert had for basketball was matched in the classroom.
“I can remember early on when they were initiating an award,” Binkoski said. “Teacher of the Year was a golden award. Bob was one of the earliest recipients of that.”
In 1995, Probert joined the men’s basketball staff at Susquehanna University, working under one of his former players, Frank Marcinek, who was the head coach.
The two had a great relationship that started when Marcinek was in high school.
“We had a really good and unique relationship,” Marcinek said. “When I played for him, I think he listened a little bit to me. When he worked for me, I listened to him. It was a good ebb and flow.”
After five seasons at Susquehanna University as an assistant basketball coach, Probert returned to Shamokin Area, joining Klebon’s coaching staff.
The history between Klebon and Probert goes back much further.
Klebon played basketball under Probert before going to college and playing football. After college, Klebon began coaching football at Warrior Run.
He was eventually approached for the head basketball coach position at the school and turned it down before Probert convinced him otherwise.
That decision would end up playing a part later in both of their lives.
“Coach Probert told me ‘You’ll be fine.’ He helped me through the years,” Klebon said. “You don’t know how things are going to turn out. He helped me get into coaching, and eventually I worked with him. I was thrilled to work with him. We became really good friends.”
One of the things both Marcinek and Binkoski saw while working with Probert was how much he cared for his players and how much they cared for him.
“He was just a great guy,” Marcinek said. “A lot of people throw out the word legend, but in my mind Bob Probert was a legend.”
“The players were devoted to him,” Binkoski said. “I understand a good many of them came out to visit him at Mountainview Manor because of the closeness and loyalty they had to him.”
When Probert was an assistant coach at Shamokin Area from 2000-12, the team compiled a 205-82 record and claimed three Schuylkill League titles, a Heartland Conference Division I title and three District 4 championships.
The gym floor at Shamokin Area High School was named in honor of him and he won an Achievement Award from the Bernie Romanoski Chapter of Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 2012.
While Probert will be remembered for more than just basketball, the sport was one of the things he loved the most.
“I think about his almost borderline obsession of basketball,” Binkoski said. “A lot of people say good things after somebody passes away, but I think I’ll remember him as just a good guy. Just a solid good person. I valued having him as a friend.”