Updated: Jan 19
By Sam Bernardi | Posted January 15, 2026
Montgomery High School athletic director and boys’ basketball head Coach Kris Grundy had been reluctant to nominate one of his own players for an Athlete of the Month award. He likes to give the spot to athletes who excel in the lesser talked-about sports, so they get a chance to earn their spot in The Montgomery News. However, he could not hold his tongue.
Ethan Lin recently committed to the University of Pennsylvania.
Scholar athlete Ethan Lin is “just an unbelievable talent,” Grundy said. “He was always motivated, attending the best possible basketball [development programs].”
Lin recently committed to the University of Pennsylvania and their head coach, Fran McCaffery, who took four programs to the NCAA Tournament.
Lin, a three-star recruit, said of his decision. “I see Coach McCaffery trusts me, being their first recruit at Penn, it just means a lot to me.”
Notably, Lin chose Penn over a number of other Ivy League programs including Princeton, Yale, and Cornell. His other offers included Rice, William & Mary, and Boston University.
Ethan Lin is the MHS all-time leading scorer in Boys' basketball history. He surpassed the long-standing mark of 1,347 points in January.
He appears above with the previous record holder, Maurice Bahr, who set the record 50 years ago, and his parents. Bahr attended the game and congratulated him, passing the torch in a powerful moment that connected generations of Montgomery basketball.
Photo courtesy of Montgomery High School.
The 6-foot-5 point guard started playing basketball during second grade recess and primarily enjoyed it because he made so many new friends.
Those same friends supported him in a game against Hillsborough, in which Lin broke his ankle. The team came back from its halftime deficit, and instead of the appropriate Saturday night celebration, they all drove over to see their teammate at the hospital.
The injury turned out to be just a bump in the road for Lin.
“That’s what sticks out to me,” Grundy said. “When you have a severe ankle break like he had that required multiple surgeries, to watch that kid battle back and do everything that was asked of him and more, and to achieve what he has achieved, that’s what sticks out to me.”
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Lin entered his senior year with a shot at the Montgomery boys’ basketball all-time scoring record. He recognizes this opportunity, however, there are far greater concerns on his to-do list.
“Not everything is going to rely on my scoring,” Lin said. “I want to make sure I’m playing good defense and offense with the team.”
Last year, the Cougars fell in the Group 4 NJ Tournament Final to a vaunted Plainfield team at the Rutgers Athletic Center (the RAC). Performing before a packed house in an 8,000-seat arena is something to remember.
“I mean, even though we lost, I feel like it was a crazy experience, and it was just super fun,” Lin said. “It was something we were looking forward to all year … giving it everything we had.”
For Grundy, a conversation they had at a summer camp told him all he needed to know about his point guard’s mentality. “[Lin] looked all the coaches in the face and he said, ‘I just want to get back to Rutgers [to the 2026 NJ Group 4 Tournament Final].
“And, I want to win,” Lin said.
