DURHAM, N.H. — For a few days last April, Jon Willeman was unsure what his future would look like.

The COVID-19 pandemic had just shut down the NHIAA Division II boys basketball tournament, and Willeman was adjusting to his senior year at Lebanon High ending through remote learning.

With opportunities to play NCAA Division III basketball at Gordon College and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute available, he needed to decide where he to attend college. Then he made contact with his old Lebanon Longhorns AAU program coach, Braeden Estes, in a last-ditch effort at fulfilling his dream of playing college hoops at the D-I level.

“I definitely always wanted to try and play at the highest level I could,” Willeman said.

Estes, who previously served as a student manager with UNH men’s basketball, reached out to Wildcats coach Bill Herrion to ask about the program’s walk-on availability. Herrion expressed that COVID-induced budget shortfalls might negate a scholarship spot and open the need for a walk-on, and he was open to adding a player.

Moving quickly, Estes and Willeman pieced together some video to send to UNH. Former Dartmouth coach Dave Faucher coached Willeman with the Longhorns and Lebanon, and he vouched for the 6-foot-2, 170-pound guard in a phone call with Herrion.

It was all enough to convince the UNH coaching staff. Willeman just wrapped up his first semester at UNH.

“He could’ve gone to a D-III school and had a great playing career,” said Estes from his apartment in Tampa, Fla., where he is now a graduate assistant with University of South Florida men’s basketball. “I give him a ton of respect for deciding to take a chance and bet on himself, to challenge himself.

“Especially in the times we are living in right now, to have a Jon Willeman for other kids to aspire to be is big. And now they get to continue to see Jon develop as a player and a man at UNH. I hope that kids understand how big of an accomplishment it is for someone where we live in the Upper Valley, and hopefully they can use that as an inspiration.”

Playing against Hanover in football his sophomore year at Lebanon, Willeman sustained a concussion and neck injury that sidelined him for the rest of the season and part of the 2017-18 basketball season.

That was mostly forgotten by his senior year. He quarterbacked the Raiders to an appearance in the 2019 NHIAA D-III title game, throwing for over 20 touchdowns for the year.

Willeman was at his best on the basketball court, however, averaging more than 18 points per game last season and leading Lebanon to a 18-4 overall record before the pandemic forced the Raiders to take a share of second place along with five other teams. He finished his time at Lebanon with more than 900 career points.

The pandemic wiped out his senior baseball season at Lebanon, too, but he played two seasons for Doug Ashey on the diamond.

Life as a three-sport athlete didn’t make for too much time focusing on one sport. He went to Dartmouth Elite basketball camps in the summers, where Estes recalled Willeman started to really show his potential.

The two also spent a lot of time in the gym on Willeman’s mechanics, developing him into scoring threat from all areas of the court, specifically beyond the arc. Partnered with time spent Lebanon basketball coach Kieth Matte, he’s become the first Raider to play D-I basketball that Matte has ever coached.

“He may not be the best player to ever leave this gym, but he might be the most talented,” Matte said at a Lebanon practice last week. “Jon was not a finished product when he left here. He had this huge amount of potential that was untapped. So I’m not surprised (he is playing D-I). He’s just a stud athlete.”

Trying to adjust to a new school, team and level of basketball during a pandemic has definitely been different, said Willeman, who is studying business administration. His older brother, Jake, is a senior at UNH and has helped with the transition.

Matte and Faucher taught him to move without the ball and play man-to-man defense, two lessons that he’s using at UNH. In the Wildcats’ first game of the season, an exhibition in Lundholm Gymnasium against Keene State, Willeman saw 11 minutes of playing time and sank a 3-pointer.

The Wildcats are currently 1-2 and had two games canceled because of COVID-19 concerns within the program but are set to return to the hardwood Sunday against Hartford. Due to injuries and an unprecedented season, Willeman might be seeing more playing time as a freshman.

“It’s definitely been a jump in competition,” he said. “The overall size of everyone is a lot bigger, but I think the way Lebanon teaches you to play hard does well everywhere and has made me be able to play with these kids.”

Pete Nakos can be reached at  pnakos@vnews.com.