Nikos Connaway is one of the most proficient scorers in Van-Far basketball history.

The senior finished his career with 1,876 points to put him second all-time in program history to former all-state and state-record-holding player Mike Smith. However, Connaway has more than his scoring on his mind now he has officially signed to play for William Woods University in Fulton, which was done on April 23 at Van-Far High School in Vandalia.

Connaway earned his fourth all-Eastern Missouri Conference — third unanimous — and fourth all-district awards this season along with his first career all-state honor for averaging 17 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals. His career numbers round out at 721 rebounds, 470 assists and 347 steals. Obviously, Connaway has been skilled at basketball for a long time, but he said he has gravitated to the game for another reason.

“Basketball has always been my main sport,” Connaway said. “It’s the biggest team sport that I play. Me and my friends have played together since we were three years old. I had the same group growing up.”

Connaway has enjoyed playing basketball with his Indians teammates the most. Sure, he has been with that same group or a variation of that group in other sports such as football, baseball and golf — earning at least all-conference status in each sport — but none of them have matched his love for basketball.

His time in other sports has helped Connaway develop into a better basketball player as he said his workouts with the football team have allowed him to become stronger and quicker to grab rebounds and come away steals. Connaway has recorded numerous double-doubles and even posted his first career quadruple double this season to give back to a team that helped him tremendously.

“Being around your teammates so we all get the feel for the game,” Connaway said. “They help me improve my game, and I help them improve theirs.”

His father, Pat Connaway, has been with Nikos every step of his journey, including the last four years as his high school head coach. Connaway remembers Nikos handling a basketball ever since he could walk so seeing him go to college was quite a sight to see.

“I’ve been able to watch him grow, especially in high school from his freshman year to what he was doing his senior year,” Connaway said. “It’s the complete transformation of becoming a complete player.”

He is proud to see Nikos earn an athletic scholarship so he can major in business at William Woods. Connaway said it is only the first step for his son as he looks to adjust to the college game.

Looking back, Connaway said his son helped the program take great steps as it improved from a 9-16 team in his freshman year to a 22-6 frenetic machine in his senior year. Nikos didn’t always need to score to positively affect the result of the game.

“The young kids all look up to him,” Connaway said. “He’s not only a good player but is a tremendous teammate, leader and just builds the character of the program. We always give an award every year for what role model we want our program to be like, and he fits that. I expect Pacey (Reading) to take that (torch) and run with that.”

Connaway now can seize a dream that has existed since he was three years old. He will be moving away from his Van-Far group but not too far at William Woods. That was a big factor for Connaway as he considered other offers, and it also helps the Owls look a lot like the Indians on the court.

“It’s a small school, which I like, and then it’s really close to home so family and friends can come watch me,” Connaway said. “They play the way I like to play, get up in transition and play fast. That’s my game so I feel like I’ll fit in there.”

The past four years have been packed with accomplishments for Connaway, but his fondest memories as an Indian are, of course, the ones he was able to enjoy with his teammates. At the forefront of his mind was Van-Far beating Clopton this season for the Bowling Green tournament championship — the program’s first since 2018.

“That was super big for us because that was one of our goals to start the year,” Connaway said. “Every practice was super fun, just being with all the guys. We mess around but also get our work done. Every practice was really enjoyable.”