Naperville North’s Luke Williams didn’t need to play basketball this season.
Armed with a football scholarship from Purdue, he could have decided to take it easy and rest his body in preparation for his college career, and he wouldn’t have been criticized for it.
Except that never entered his mind. Even as his long-aching left shoulder worsened, Williams threw himself into basketball season with the passion that has delighted teammates and fans for four years.
“Just finishing what I started,” Williams said. “I’m not going to be playing basketball (in college). I’ve been playing it all my life. It’s the sport I fell in love with.
“So especially with the group I have, why not? You’re going to have the time of your life with the best guys, the guys you grew up around, so that was going through my mind.”
The 6-foot-1 Williams ran it back with an all-senior starting five that included fellow guards Bryce Welch and Cole Arl, two longtime friends and teammates. Williams provided many memorable moments, averaging 14.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.7 steals in 21 games until shoulder surgery ended his high school career with eight games left in the regular season.
Williams, the 2023-24 Naperville Sun Boys Basketball Player of the Year, saved his best game for last, scoring a career-high 31 points to go with eight rebounds, six steals and four assists in the Huskies’ 68-48 home win against St. Charles North on Jan. 17. He left the game to a standing ovation on his 18th birthday. He finished his career with 1,470 points.
“He is as special of a kid as I’ve ever been around in my life,” Naperville North coach Gene Nolan said. “The character of that young man …”
Nolan paused a moment to gather his thoughts as he tried to sum up what Williams meant to the program.
“He’s a humble superstar,” Nolan said. “His teammates loved playing with him because he’s so unselfish. Even in the most basic basketball drills, he goes incredibly hard because he only knows one way to do that. He impacts the game in so many ways.”
That goes beyond statistics to mentorship of younger teammates like sophomore guard Max Steele, a two-sport varsity athlete as a freshman like Williams was. Steele found a guiding light in Williams, who was also the 2023 Naperville Sun Football Player of the Year.
“It just means so much, the leader that he is,” Steele said. “When I got brought up, I was a little nervous, but he was right there for me, always supporting me, always helping me.
“Whenever something went wrong, he was picking me up or helping me so I don’t make that same mistake. We’re all going to miss him so much.”
Opponents will too. Williams’ farewell game was thrilling, but what he did against then-unbeaten Benet on Dec. 23 was no less impressive. The Huskies were massive underdogs against the taller Redwings and lost Arl to an injury in the third quarter. Williams scored a game-high 22 points in Naperville North’s 44-41 overtime loss.
“Luke is a special athlete, really what is special about high school athletics, to be a two-sport star and excel at both,” Benet coach Gene Heidkamp said after that game. “He carried his team.”
Williams hit two buzzer-beaters against Benet, the first an off-balance runner in the lane to end the first half and the other a 19-foot jumper to end the third quarter.
“That’s a sign of a really good player on a well-coached team,” Heidkamp said. “I tip my hat to him. He just wouldn’t go away. He made big play after big play, so we definitely have a huge amount of respect for him and their whole team.”
Williams reciprocated by respecting others.
“These are guys I’ve been playing with since sixth or seventh grade, so I was just playing for them and with them for my last go-around,” he said. “I’ve had a great experience with them.
“Max, a sophomore, just came up last year, so being able to teach those guys meant a lot.”
Williams meant a lot to Nolan too.
“He’s so friendly with people,” Nolan said. “He’s been a joy to be around these last four years. We’re going to miss him.”
Not many athletes can say they won their final game. Williams’ last wasn’t a state championship game, but he did go out a winner, and the applause he received was a fitting ending.
“It means everything, from the football program to the kids that came out to support,” he said. “It means a lot to know people are there for me.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.
