No one deserved a state title more than John Willis.
No one needed a state title less to define their impact on a community than John Willis.
The Norwell High three-sport coach is more of a living legend with a booming voice that can be heard in the loudest of gyms.
“John Willis is Norwell,” said Norwell High athletic director JJ Niamkey. “He means so much to the community and to the kids. It’s just something truly special. You don’t really have that in too many places around here.”
On March 14, the Norwell High boys basketball team claimed its first state title with a thrilling overtime win over Old Rochester Regional in the Division 3 final.
Willis’ career will never be defined by wins (there have been plenty of them), state-tournament appearances (basically every year, no matter the sport), or league titles, but by the relationships he’s built with players, coaches and parents across the South Shore over the decades.
But anyone who knows Willis knows one of those relationships is just a little more special.
'Not just coach'
The John Willis story cannot be told without mentioning Andrew Lawson, and vice-versa.
Lawson was a Norwell native who had Down syndrome. Lawson was an integral piece of the Norwell community, playing three sports, including for Willis’ basketball team. After graduating, he returned to the school as an assistant coach for Willis on the boys basketball team (and for Jack Browne on the boys soccer team).
He died in 2018 at just 27 years old following a two-year battle with cancer.
Playing for and coaching with Willis was a key cog in how Lawson became such a massive figure in the Norwell and South Shore sports community. Playing sports allowed Lawson to not only be included in the community, but to be a driving force behind it.
"To take Andrew onto a varsity team, that is something nobody with Down syndrome ever gets to do,” said Andrew’s mother Regina Lawson. “(Willis) became not just coach, he became our friend. He gave Andrew an opportunity that most kids with Down syndrome would never get to do.”
Andrew Lawson’s presence was felt throughout the state final. Assistant coach Brady Murphy, whose time on the bench overlapped with Lawson’s, wore a shirt that had Andrew Lawson’s name and No. 25 on the back. Those shirts were made in 2018, shortly after his death. On the back of Willis’ chair was a No. 25 jersey.
Need more coincidences? The Clippers finished the season with 25 wins and the title, of course, came in 2025.
“The number 25 just keeps popping up,” said Regina Lawson.
No one on Norwell has worn Lawson's No. 25 since his ...
