Kankakee High School star guard Lincoln Williams announced his commitment to the Illini men's basketball program providing a big late athletic boost to their Class of 2026. The senior averaged 26 points, six rebounds, and four assists per game this past season leading Kankakee to a 29-2 record and is the #1 overall prospect in the state of Illinois. He also is Kankakee's all-time leading scorer, earned Class 3A first-team all-state honors, and was named the Class 3A Steve Tappa Illinois Media Player of the Year. Williams had several other Division I offers including Virginia Tech, Arizona State, TCU, and DePaul.
Williams explained what ultimately led him to picking Illinois and what he will bring as a player:
"Just my development, just knowing it's an hour way from home, all my people can come to it. I got a really good bond with the staff, so I just can't wait to get down there. I think I go down there Wednesday, move in, meet the guys, have fun, and just compete. I'm ready to compete with everybody, teammates, opponents. I'm ready to compete. (I'm) a really fun, entertaining player. A guy who loves to win, a guy who loves to get better every day."
Kankakee High School Athletic Director Ronnie Wilcox said it was great to see Williams sign with Illinois:
"It's really been fun since basketball season just kind of the way this whole journey's played out, the process played out, like all the schools that have been here, he's been in contact with, and just kind of waiting in anticipation of where he was ultimately going to land. And so for it to be Illinois, we're just really excited about it. It's a home school. Lincoln is a kid who's really big on family and the fact that, you know, he's not that far away, that he's close to family and family can get to him and go on to cheer him on, I think it's just a final culmination of all the work he's put in over the last four years."
Wilcox added between Williams signing with Illinois and former Kays football standout Keagen Trost getting drafted in April by the Los Angeles Rams, it has been a great way to end his tenure at Kankakee as he steps down to take a job at Lake Forest:
"People have talked to me today, like asking about today, and I said it's a good farewell present. It's a goodbye present. Just kind of an exclamation point. I feel like the 11 years we've had here as athletic director and 19 overall, it's been fun. It's been all about, most importantly, the student athletes and the people we impact on a daily basis. But it's about all the coaches, the parents, the community, the administration, everybody involved in the district that has supported this vision of athletics and what it can mean to a community like Kankakee and to watch people embrace it, especially our kids embrace it and show themselves they are capable of great things and can go on do great stuff, just like Keagen in the NFL and Lincoln going to the Illini. So it's just a special way to leave that I'm leaving better than I found it and just so proud of what this community has done and continues to do."
Kankakee High School held a signing day event in the Dr. Walter's Community Center to celebrate the decision.
