Daily Journal Boys Basketball Players of Year: Bradley-Bourbonnais’ Nick Allen and Kankakee’s Lincoln Williams

Allen wraps record-breaking career at Bradley-Bourbonnais

Nick Allen certainly left a mark on the Bradley-Bourbonnais boys basketball program. The 6-foot-11 center celebrated his senior year by setting the school’s scoring record, earning his second straight IBCA Class 4A All-State selection and his second straight Daily Journal Player of the Year honor.

With his 1,596 career points Allen helped lead the Boilermakers to a 86-41 record over four season on varsity, the last three of which have come as the team’s starting center. That is the best four-year stretch for the program since well before Allen was born, and he said it means a lot to have had to opportunity to be a part of that.

“It’s great,” he said. “I love the school, the people there, and it’s an honor to be able to hold some of those records. I had a great time, a great four years.”

After averaging 19 points and 9.2 rebounds per game as a junior, Allen took another step forward this season, averaging 22.5 points and 12 rebounds per game as the consensus top-ranked center in the state for the class of 2025.

Former Bradley-Bourbonnais head coach Ryan Kemp, who recently resigned after three years in the role, said that it was a joy to be able to witness Allen’s growth over the years, transforming from a tall and raw prospect into one of the very best players in Illinois.

“I told our guys that after our last game, I’m like ‘I don’t know if you guys understand it, but you will someday, just the experience and the privilege you all had to play with one another, and some of you guys got to see what a Division I center looks like and practices like, and just the excitement when he goes up for a dunk and just crushes it on somebody,‘” Kemp said. “...Each of those years you just see growth with strength, with movement, with ability, with skill level. It just keeps going up and up.”

While Allen improved in all of those areas, one that proved especially important was building up his strength, which was aided a bit by an injury between his sophomore and junior seasons.

“To gain like 40 pounds of mostly muscle, you just have to eat a lot and do a lot of lifting in the offseason,” Allen said. “I actually broke my leg after my sophomore year, so that gave me some time to really put on muscle because I could do lifting still.”

As Allen prepares to make that jump to Division I basketball, he said he is excited to keep elevating his game as much as possible.

“I’m super excited to get on campus and get with the team and players, and practice and work out with them,” he said. “I think I can improve a lot in the next couple of years. I’m excited to see where it takes me. If I can get bigger, stronger, faster and work on some skills, there’s a lot to improve and I’m excited.”

Williams shines as top option for Kankakee

The 2024-25 season saw Kankakee junior Lincoln Williams step into a new role. He already had two years of varsity experience under his belt, including a stellar sophomore season where he earned IBCA All-State Second Team and Daily Journal All-Area honors.

Still, he was behind star seniors Damontae Mae, an All-Area player, and Larenz Walters, the 2023 Daily Journal Co-Player of the Year and a two-time IBCA All-State selection. This season saw Williams step up as the clear-cut top option for the Kays.

He set a new career highs with 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists per game, leading the Kays to a 25-6 record as one of the top teams in Class 3A.

“Last year I had two people in front of me, Damontae and Larenz, who were really good leaders my whole high school career,” Williams said. “And this year I got to really be the main captain, the guy with the most experience, and it’s been fun.”

Williams has enjoyed playing basketball for years, but as he began to show promise once his high school career got underway, it became clear that it was something that could be a very impactful part of his future.

“I started when I was around three or four, but I really started to pursue it my freshman summer when I got my first D-I offer,” he said. “I was like, ‘basketball is a sport I can really do good in.’ It took off from there. I’ve now got over 12 or 13 Division I offers.”

As the top-ranked junior in the state by Prep Hoops Illinois and second-ranked junior by 247 Sports, there have been plenty of eyes on Williams. He said that all the attention can become frustrating at times, but overall it feels rewarding to have his hard work recognized.

Kankakee head coach Chris Pickett said he believes Williams has done a good job dealing with all of the outside pressure that most high school athletes do not have to deal with.

“Lincoln is a humble, down to earth guy, so when people are pulling at him from all different directions, you can see sometimes that he’s uncomfortable with it because he just wants to be a regular teenager,” Pickett said. “As the year went on he got used to it and started to handle it a lot better. I’m proud from the standpoint that he did not let it affect his play on the court and he didn’t let it affect his relationship with his teammates.”

Williams is expected to lead a talented senior class for the Kays next season, a group looking to break through after coming up a bit short in the postseason in recent years and make a run at the program’s first state title.

“The goal is to win state like it is every year,” Williams said. “That’s the only goal I have, I hope that’s the only goal my teammates have, and I think next year we can really do it.”