Lincoln boys basketball celebrates back-to-back state titles

WARREN — The Warren Lincoln boys basketball team held a city-wide parade on April 17 to celebrate the program’s second consecutive Division 2 state title.

The team had a phenomenal 23-4 record in the regular season and went a perfect 9-0 in the Macomb Area Conference Red Division before going undefeated in postseason play.

“Coming back after winning one, it made it special,” Lincoln head coach Wydell Henry said. “These guys all stick together.”

Sticking together was exactly what this team did. Sacrifices had to be made on the personal side of things for players in order to get the most out of the team, and that’s what Lincoln was able to do.

“I preached togetherness all season… We probably weren’t going to have a guy averaging 20 or 25 points, and if they were OK with that then we could win,” Henry explained. “If they weren’t, then we were in trouble. So credit to them, they all stepped up.”

The togetherness that was preached went beyond the court, too, as Warren Lincoln prioritized a bond between students and treating the team like a family.

“We did bonding things together. Going to church together and doing different things in the community,” Henry said. “You got to have your brother and teammates’ back.”

The parade was a great way to highlight a special team that has given back so much to the community. Not only is Lincoln winning, but the program has become a pillar off the court as well.

“We do a lot of things in the community. Whether it’s passing out food or just coming up to the school and have a cleanup day,” Henry said. “We do a lot of team exercises.”

One of the more notable sights from the parade was seeing the number of children that came out to support the high school basketball team. The players realize that the next generation is looking up to them, and it was important that they were able to celebrate together.

“We started an elementary basketball league, and I had my guys come up on Saturdays and they were the coaches,” Henry said. “We try to make it a family with the Van Dyke Public School District… Lincoln pride.”

The program was 10 weeks long and it allowed the young students in the district to look up to the players and to know the players on the team. The sense of family was felt throughout the season and at the parade.

The players assembled in the school gym after the parade ended so that members of the community and students of the elementary and middle schools could meet the players. The players were signing autographs and taking pictures with the crowd that turned out.

“I think it was a really great event… It really felt like a lot of support,” Lincoln senior Markus Blackwell said. “We’re really grateful for it.”

The parade also perfectly highlighted what made this team so successful: a family bond that reaches the entire city.

“It’s a bond that will last forever,” Blackwell said. “It shows how our team is built… Those kinds of things helped us overcome anything.”

After back-to-back titles, a lot of the core players of Warren Lincoln will go on to do different things, but the brotherhood and legacy that the unit has will be a part of the community forever.

“We talk to each other every day… We’re all mostly going to different colleges, but we stay connected,” Blackwell explained. “We’re always going to be together, and we know we’ll be connected forever.”

The 2024-2025 Warren Lincoln boys basketball team will be known as one of the best basketball teams in program history, but it will also be remembered as a team that cared about its community. The team deserved to be celebrated by the city as this team’s chapter closes.

“I really couldn’t be more proud of us,” Blackwell said. “I’m just very grateful that I had great teammates and coaches and people around me… just thankful.”