JOE WILLIAMS CLASS OF 1984

F OOTBALL / B ASKETBALL / L ACROSSE

As a top-tier athlete, Joe played varsity football, basketball, and lacrosse at Lawrence Academy. Coming in as a sophomore from Fenn School, Joe was determined to make a name for himself as one of LA’s greats.

Growing up on boarding school campuses, Joe has always been around high school athletics. When Joe’s father, Ben, became Head of School at LA, Joe attended as many games as he could, admiring the students’ talents and accomplishments. Some of Joe’s fondest memories as a child were skating in the rink during stick and puck time, helping as a ball boy at games, and hanging out in the gym playing basketball.

In Joe’s early career, his first love was hockey, but he decided to put his energies and efforts into football, basketball, and lacrosse. As Joe began to develop as an athlete, basketball became his primary focus; he played on various AAU teams and the very competitive Crompton Park Summer League that existed back in the day, and he was invited to attend the prestigious 5-star basketball camp.

When Joe first arrived at LA, he immediately excelled in sports. When Joe became a senior, he was a captain in football, basketball, and lacrosse, selected to the all-ISL team for each sport, and a finalist for the McDonald’s All-America Basketball team.

Following LA, Joe attended Bowdoin College in Maine, where he was recruited to play both basketball and lacrosse. At this time, Joe decided that basketball was going to be his athletic focus. During his college career, Joe was a member of the 1,000-point club, was selected to the all-Maine basketball team in both his junior and senior years, and currently stands as the 10th all-time scoring leader in the program’s history.

Joe was very grateful for the opportunity to play sports at such a high level. Athletics taught Joe valuable lessons on discipline, preparation, and teamwork while developing meaningful relationships with players and coaches that remain intact today.

In his post-athletic days, Joe worked in the marketing department at Reebok before returning to the prep school world at Kimball Union Academy, where he served as an administrator and coach. Joe is now the Head of School at New Hampton School in New Hampton, NH, where he is not just a school leader but also teaches teamwork and fair play.

Congratulations, Joe, on being inducted into the Class of 2024 LA Athletic Hall of Fame!