Peoria basketball legend named to the University of Illinois hall of fame

Adam Duvall, Peoria Journal Star

Peoria basketball legend Frank Williams received the call to the hall.

Williams will be inducted into the University of Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame as part of the eight-member class for 2024. His induction ceremony is set for Friday, Oct. 11 at State Farm Center followed by being honored at the home football game versus Purdue on Oct. 12.

Williams led the Fighting Illini to the Big Ten Conference championship in 2001 and was named the league's player of the year and an all-American. He scored 1,440 career points, ranking him among the top-20 scorers in Illini hoops history. In 2005, the 6-foot-3 point guard was named to the Illini Men's Basketball All-Century Team.

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The 1998 Illinois Mr. Basketball winner helped lead Manual to the final two of its four successive Class AA state championships in 1996 and 1997. Williams was named a McDonald's All-American following his senior campaign where he averaged 22.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game.

Williams, who declared for the NBA draft after his junior season, was selected by the Denver Nuggets with the 25th overall pick, then traded to the New York Knicks on draft night. He played two seasons for the Knicks, then one with the Chicago Bulls.

Williams is the second former Manual player inducted in three years. Women's basketball player Jonelle Polk McCloud was inducted into the Hall in 2022. There are 143 total members of the Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame, which was founded in 2017, and includes members from each one of the current varsity sports.

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The other Fighting Illini hall of famers set to be enshrined in 2024 include:

  • Darrick Brownlow, football (1987-90)

  • Laura DeBruler Santos, volleyball (2007-10)

  • Jannelle Flaws, women's soccer (2012-15)

  • Robert Holcombe, football (1994-97)

  • Herman "Pete" Velasco, fencing (1954-56)

  • Nick Weatherspoon, men's basketball (1971-73)

  • Gary Winckler, women's track and field coach (1985-2008)

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Peoria basketball legend Frank Williams chosen for U of I sports hall of fame

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