Kankakee is averaging 23 wins a season since Chris Pickett took over in 2017, and the program has sent several players off to play college basketball.
Even with all that recent success, 6-5 sophomore Lincoln Williams has a chance to be the best Kays player in quite a while.
“As far as his upside, he’s one of the better sophomores in the state because of his size, length and ability to do different things,” Pickett said. “He can dribble, he can shoot and he can finish in the paint.”
Williams displayed all those talents in Kankakee’s 60-37 victory against Stagg on Sunday at Homewood-Flossmoor.
It has been an impressive season for the sophomore class all around the area, and Williams is right there with Benet’s Gabe Sularski and Marist’s Stephen Brown at the top of the heap.
“Most important, he’s the guy we put on the opponent’s best offensive player,” Pickett said. “He’s going to have a really glorified career here.”
Williams had 21 points and 10 rebounds against the Chargers (13-6) and shot 8-for-11.
“The whole season has been feeling pretty good,” Williams said. “We only have two losses, and those were to really good teams [conference rivals Thornton and Bloom].”
The Kays (14-2) lack a marquee win. But with Williams, senior guard Larenz Walters (13 points), Damontae May (11 points) and 6-5 junior Elijah Stipp (13 points), it’s easy to see why Pickett believes this team has a chance to be one of the best he has coached.
“We had a win against Lindblom in the holiday tournament,” Pickett said. “That’s a really good team. But we still have some things to clean up in our conference. We’re just trying to play the long game and get ready for the state playoffs.”
Kankakee led by nine at halftime and dominated the third quarter, outscoring Stagg 15-6.
David Ortiz led the Chargers with 12 points, and Connor Williams scored seven.
