2022 Park Hill South graduate and defensive lineman James Williams posted this graphic on Twitter to announce the news of his future academic and athletic careers at the collegiate level.
Within 48 hours, a pair of Park Hill South siblings – 2022 graduate James Williams and incoming senior Regan Williams – took to Twitter to announce commitments to different colleges to continue their athletic careers on June 24 and 26.
James Williams, the 6’5 defensive lineman, wrapped up an impressive freshman season at Iowa Central Community College and will be transferring to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Regan Williams is a 6’2 small forward who has had numerous offers from D-1 colleges in her high school career and she’s decided to go to the University of Kansas.
James Williams had a monster senior season at Park Hill South in 2021, helping the squad go undefeated until losing in the Class 6 District 4 Championship. He was the Kansas City Suburban Conference Red Division Defensive Player of The Year.
Williams led the Panthers with 18 sacks and 35 tackles for loss. The defensive lineman also had 108 total tackles, 77 solo tackles, two force fumbles and one recovered fumble.
Despite stuffing the stat sheet in his final year in high school, Williams didn’t have a ton of offers coming in. He decided to take the community college route to gain attention by bigger schools, and that paid off.
Regan Williams has been an offensive threat for Park Hill South each of the last three years and has committed to the University of Kansas before her senior year.
Last year the defensive lineman had 19 total tackles, seven tackles for loss, six sacks and two forced fumbles – which he recovered – in 11 games. After leading the Tritons to a 7-4 season, Williams gained the attention of Matt Rhule, the new head coach of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Rhule coached the Carolina Panthers the last three seasons and recently accepted the head coaching position for the Huskers, having had success at Temple University and the University of Baylor from 2013-19. The Park Hill South graduate will join a prestigious college football program that has failed to win more than five games in any season since 2016.
The strong athleticism runs in the family as Regan Williams has been a 3-year starter for the Lady Panthers’ basketball team. The small forward helped lead Park Hill South to the Class 6 State Quarterfinals in 2022, missing out on its first state appearance by a 1-point loss.
Williams took on a smaller role in her junior campaign with two freshman stars coming in, leading the team in scoring and taking nearly half of the shots for the Lady Panthers. The University of Kansas commit still led Park Hill South in rebounds with 6.9 per game and with accuracy at the charity stripe with 68 percent shooting from the free throw line, in addition to averaging 10.6 points, 1.8 assists and 2.2 steals per game.
Before last season, Williams was the most reliable scorer for the Lady Panthers. She was Park Hill South’s leading scorer as a sophomore and had one less total point than the leading scorer in her freshman campaign.
As a sophomore, Williams was at the top of the list in every offensive statistic but assists and had a team-high 52 steals. She scored 14.3 points, grabbed 7.4 rebounds, dished out 1.2 assists and blocked 1.2 shots per game that season.
The small forward didn’t take many shots from deep when she was a freshman – making three of her 11 attempts – but still averaged 7.8 points and had 132 total points. Williams will join the University of Kansas under 2022 Big 12 Coach of the Year who has led the Jayhawks to two consecutive 21-plus win seasons.