Members of the Kankakee community have come out to watch Lincoln Williams play basketball many times over the years.

At Kankakee High School’s Dr. Genevra A. Walters Community Center on Monday evening, they came out to support him one last time as a Kay, watching on as he signed to continue his basketball career at the University of Illinois after making his verbal commitment just hours prior.

“It means a lot,” Lincoln said. “Kankakee’s not that big, so it means a lot to be a kid from Kankakee going to Champaign. I love my city and I’ll do whatever for my city.”

Sitting alongside Lincoln as he signed his commitment letter to one of the top programs in the nation was his dad Sammy Williams.

Sammy has raised Lincoln and his older siblings Samantha and Samuel as a single father since his wife Melissa died in a car accident in 2010.

He’s also been a mainstay at just about all of Lincoln’s games.

“I don’t think he’s missed a game, away or home, since I was in like eighth grade,” Lincoln said. “I know being a single parent is not easy, but I think my dad handles it right. My brother and my sister, we all have each other’s back. So it means a lot to have them with me.”

Sammy has now seen Samantha, Samuel and Lincoln all have the chance to attend college and work to build lives for themselves, and as a parent, he said that’s really all he can ask for.

“It’s just a blessing, man,” he said. “Their mother passed away back in 2010, and they’ve stayed grounded, stayed focused and had a big support system, and here we are. Just seeing Samantha go through it, then Samuel and now Lincoln, it’s just a blessing.”

Samantha graduated from Illinois in 2019, and will now get to head back to campus to see her brother suit up for the Illini.

She said she’s happy knowing he will be walking the same campus she loved during her time there, especially considering it’s not too far from Kankakee.

“He’s definitely not following in my footsteps, because he’s a great athlete and I was not, but I’m super excited for him,” she said. “It’s so nice to keep him close to home. Our family really values the time we get to spend going to all his games and we’re so lucky he chose to go there because we get to keep doing that.”

Samuel has experience as a college athlete under his belt, playing baseball at Kishwaukee College after graduating from Kankakee in 2021.

Sports have always being a big part of Samuel and Lincoln’s lives as brothers, and as Lincoln is prepared to make a jump to the next level, Samuel said he’s happy to have been a part of the journey so far.

“It’s definitely going to be a grind,” he said. “Growing up watching our dad, and then he got to watch me, I think it was great. He got to learn and we taught him a lot, and not even just me and my dad, it’s all our family members. They always say the youngest is the best, and look at him now.”

While he eventually landed on his feet, the recruitment process wasn’t always easy for Lincoln.

Offers started pouring a couple years ago, but began to dry up once he began to struggle academically in the aftermath of all this new-found attention.

“My sophomore year I had like 20 offers, all power four and power five,” he said. “I was doing good, and got a little big-headed and stopped going to class a little bit. Junior year and senior year, I turned things around and here I am today.”

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Lincoln Williams - Illini signing Lincoln Williams is interviewed following his official commitment to University of Illinois to play basketball during a signing day celebration at Kankakee High School on Monday, June 8, 2026. (Tiffany Blanchette/Tiffany Blanchette)

Lincoln was able to keep improving on the court while making sure his academics didn’t continue to suffer, averaging 24 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals per game as a senior to heat his recruiting back up.

Sammy said he saw Lincoln grow and mature a lot in the last two years as he fought to save his basketball future.

“He was able to stick with it and not give up, and that showed me a lot of determination and grit from him,” Sammy said. “...He signed with the University of Illinois to show dreams do come true.”

Lincoln will soon be playing his home games in front of 15,000 fans at the State Farm Center in Champaign, likely with a few familiar faces in the crowd each time.

It’s an arena he’s excited to take the floor in.

“I’ve been there for so many games in my sophomore year and junior year,” he said. “State Farm and Illini fans are crazy. I can’t wait to put on a show for them.”