North Philly’s Ke’Shawn Williams is doing his part in Indiana’s undefeated season

Over the five seasons of Ke’Shawn Williams’ college football career, his parents have not missed a game.

From Jacksonville, Fla., to Los Angeles and up and down the East Coast in Williams’ four seasons at Wake Forest and across the Midwest and out West in his final collegiate season with Indiana, Kenneth and Shawn Williams have made it happen no matter the distance.

“I’ve always been able to work part time, where I always had employers that understood my schedule and they were flexible,” said his mother, Shawn, who lives in Philadelphia. “I have a big book of all Ke’Shawn’s accomplishments. So from the time he was in high school, I started to print out most of his accomplishments. And it’s been unreal.”

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No. 5 Indiana is off to its first-ever 10-0 start, with a big game in Columbus, Ohio, on Saturday against No. 2 Ohio State (noon, Fox29), and Williams, a wide receiver, has been at the center of the Hoosiers’ success, especially in their 20-15 win over Michigan two weeks ago. The North Philly native made a number of game-changing plays in the win. Among them: a 26-yard catch in the first quarter that led to a touchdown and a 21-yard punt return in the fourth quarter to set up Indiana’s go-ahead field goal.

Williams has had a knack for big plays dating back to his time at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, where he broke the Inter-Ac League career receiving records for catches, yards, and touchdowns. Though he was overlooked for his size (5-foot-9, 189 pounds) during the recruiting process, his high school coach Rick Knox said Williams has always been “an absolute playmaker.”

“He’s electric as a football player, as an athlete, and the difference that I saw with him, and that I still see now, like when I saw that punt return that he had against Michigan, is his ability to get to top speed and find another gear quickly,” Knox said. “It’s different than anybody that I’ve coached. …Obviously, when you have that at the high school level, it’s going to lead to big plays, but he does it on the college level as well.”

Football has been at the center of Williams’ journey since he was 5. His goal then was to make it to the NFL, something he told his mother often.

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“I don’t want to take anything for granted and look back and say, ‘I wish I would have valued this rep’, or ‘I wish I’d have valued this year more,’” Williams said. “I love this game of football, and I love playing football, and any chance I get to go out there and play in front of 50,000 people and compete at the highest level, be on national TV, or whatever the case may be, I just don’t take that for granted.”

Those moments haven’t come consistently. In a deep receiver group at Wake Forest, Williams played fewer than 450 offensive snaps in each of his four seasons, according to Pro Football Focus. But was a fixture in the return game. He averaged 19.8 yards on 33 kick returns, and totaled 107 receptions, 1,385 yards, and five scores in four seasons.

What impresses Knox and his mother most about Williams is his resilience. After joining Indiana via the transfer portal, Williams wasn’t seeing the field much, playing a combined 55 snaps in the first three games this season. But as the season has progressed, Williams’ snap count increased, and he’s making the most of it, collecting a career-best four receiving touchdowns.

“I’m sure there’s a lot of kids that wouldn’t have had the same character that he does and the same follow-through that he has — they might have entered the transfer portal with a year left,” Knox said. “Who knows how they would have reacted when he didn’t play as much earlier on. But it’s no surprise to me that he’s persevered and where he is right now, and I think part of that is his Philly toughness.”

Added Shawn: “He has instilled [confidence] in himself, because he’s always been that kind of driven person, where he knows things may not go his way, but if when the time comes, he’s going to make it happen.”

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Williams has leaned on his Philly roots when times got tough for him. He relishes meeting the moment on the football field. In Wake Forest’s upset against then-No. 11 Florida State in 2022, Williams caught four passes, all for first downs, including one over the back of a defender. The first multi-touchdown game of his career, against UCLA this season, helped break open a 42-13 Indiana win. And in his latest performance, against Michigan, he grabbed six catches, which included two for first downs in the fourth quarter.

“You can’t call yourself a good player if you’re not able to step up in the uncomfortable environments or when times are difficult,” he said.

Williams has “met a lot of lifelong friends, a lot of brothers” in his football career, but no bond may be more important to his family than the one with the Ellisons. Justice Ellison, Indiana’s running back, also transferred from Wake Forest, though he and Williams never planned it together. But Shawn Williams is grateful to have another family to lean on during their road trips.

“When we hang out, we actually eat together, we cook together,” Shawn Williams said. “Being able to be with the Ellisons and the Williamses and being one unit — we really have a good time together. That’s going to be the most memorable moments [from this season]. … When we go out, we’re like one big family.”

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Ke’Shawn Williams knows he’s at Indiana “for a reason,” playing Power Four football on his biggest stage yet, just like he envisioned back at Springside Chestnut Hill. He and the Hoosiers are in the thick of the College Football Playoff race, and an upset win over Downingtown West graduate Will Howard’s Ohio State squad will get them one step closer.

He may play five snaps or 25. But at Ohio Stadium on Saturday, look out for Williams’ No. 5 jersey. He might be a blur across your screen with his electrifying speed. And Williams expects to make those explosive plays, even against a vaunted Buckeyes defense.