Furman University

Honors & Awards
2025 Preseason All-Southern Conference (1st Team/Placekicker)
2025 Stats Perform Preseason All-American (1st Team/Placekicker)
2025 Southern Conference Academic Honor Roll
2024 All-Southern Conference (1st Team/Placekicker)
2024 Southern Conference Player of the Week (vs. Stetson)
2023 All-Southern Conference (2nd Team/Placekicker)
2023 Southern Conference Player of the Week (vs. ETSU)
2022 Southern Conference Player of the Week (vs. ETSU)

2025 — Named Preseason All-Southern Conference (1st Team) in balloting by head coaches and Stats Perform Preseason All-American (1st Team).

2024 — Firmly established himself as the league’s top kicker with the best range and one of the most effective three-way specialists (placekicking, kickoffs, punting) in the FCS...collected his second All-Southern Conference scroll as a Paladin, earning first team honors in balloting by head coaches...connected on 14-of-20 field goal attempts, 24-of-25 PATs, and registered 43 touchbacks of 49 kickoffs...also averaged 40.6 yards on 60 punts...set a new Furman record with a SoCon season best 57-yard field goal in a 48-7 win over Stetson and matched it with another 57-yarder in the season finale versus Mercer...both kicks were made with several yards to spare...performance against Stetson included 2x2 FGs (48, 57 yards), 6x6 PATs, 8x9 kickoff touchbacks, and 44.8 avg. on five punts to net him SoCon Special Teams Player of the Week — the third of his career...his 64.0 kickoff yards average led the league and 87.8 touchback kickoff percentage easily paced the SoCon, with the second highest percentage at 48.2 percent...opponents tallied only five kickoff returns and 12.0 return average — the lowest (best) in the FCS....has had only one kickoff go out-of-bounds in 207 kicks over three seasons at Furman...led the team in scoring with 66 points....named to the SoCon Academic Honor Roll for the 2024-25 school year.

2023 — Consensus All-SoCon second team placekicker, as selected by head coaches and media...converted 18-of-24 field goal attempts and 21-of-21 PATs for a team leading 75 points...18 field goals made paced the SoCon...also averaged a league best 63.2 yards on 74 kickoffs, 54 of which went for touchbacks (SoCon leader) to give him a league high 73.0 touchback percentage...lone kickoff out of bounds came on onside kick attempt versus FCS eighth-ranked Western Carolina (29-17 win), representing his only kickoff attempt to go out of bounds in 158 kicks over his first two seasons...connected on 14 of his final 15 field goal attempts, including a 4-for-4 performance (44, 31, 37, 20) in 26-7 win over Chattanooga in FCS second round playoff action...work versus UTC also featured 6-of-7 kickoffs for touchbacks...went 3-for-3 (23, 52, 32) in 16-8 win over East Tennessee State, with 52-yard boot representing a career long and tying for fifth longest in Furman history...combined that with four touchbacks on five kickoffs to collect SoCon Special Teams Player of the Week honors for the second time in his Paladin tenure — both vs. ETSU...strong play helped key Furmans 10-3 season headlined by a SoCon championship and FCS quarterfinal round playoff appearance...squad was ranked sixth in the AFCA FCS final poll.  

2022 — Transfer who joined the Furman program on May 12, 2022, following two years at N.C. State...used a strong preseason camp to secure the team’s kickoff duties and long field goal chores...averaged 63.2 yards on 84 kickoffs and recorded a SoCon leading 50 touchbacks, with no out-of-bounds kicks...also contributed significantly on field goals, converting 10-of-12 attempts (83.3 percent), including 4-of-4 from 30-39 yards and 6-of-6 from 40-49 yards...went 0-for-2 from 50+ yards...converted from 44 and 43 yards and recorded five kickoff touchbacks vs. FCS 18th-ranked East Tennessee State (27-13 win) to capture SoCon Special Teams Player of the Week honors...connected on his final eight field goal attempts, including 2-for-2 efforts versus Western Carolina (47-40 win) and VMI (41-3 win), and 3-for-3 against FCS 11th-ranked Mercer (23-13 win)...drilled a season best 49-yard field goal against Incarnate Word in FCS second round playoff action...two missed field goals came against North Greenville (54 yards) and Samford (51 yards)...combined with teammate Axel Lepvreau (8x9 FGs) to convert 18-of-21 field goals for .857 success rate (2nd highest in SoCon). 2021 — Did not see any action at N.C. State...qualified for redshirt and extra year of eligibility. 2020 — At N.C. State, recorded one kickoff that covered 63 yards versus Florida State (38-22 win).

High School: 2020 graduate of Weddington High School, where he handled both kicking and punting duties..football coach was Andy Capone...converted 7-of-12 field goals, with a long of 45 yards, his senior (pandemic) year...as a junior, hit on 18-of-21 field goals, with a long of 52 yards, and 70-of-71 PATs in helping Weddington  to a 16-0 record and AAA state championship...73 of his 84 kickoffs went for touchbacks....team was ranked No. 2 in North Carolina (all classifications) and No. 78 nationally...was ranked No. 6 nationally by Kohl’s Kicking and No. 8 kicker nationally by ESPN.com prior to signing with N.C. State.

Personal: Full name is Ian Powell Williams...born September 20, 2001, in Fairfax, Virginia...son of Powell and Jodie Williams...has a brother, Brett, and and a siste, Lucy...earned his undergraduate degree in communications studies from Furman in the spring of 2025.