November 18, 2023.

It was like any other day for Homestead High School basketball standout Will Jamison. He took in the Homestead girls basketball game, then went to dinner with friends and teammates before he headed out to pick up his sister from a birthday party.

“It was actually a pretty good day leading into it. I had a scrimmage earlier that day, rode with the team from the game and to the game. Later I went to watch our girls team play Noblesville and went out to dinner after. I actually had plans after dinner, but had to pick up my sister first,” Jamison told Indiana Preps.

That is where the sense of normalcy would end for Jamison and his family.

“Once I picked her up, I think almost immediately, I got hit. Never did I think that would happen,” Jamison recalled.

According to published reports, the vehicle Jamison was driving was struck by another motorist on U.S. 27. Jamison took the brunt of the accident and both he and his sister were rushed to a local hospital. Jamison arrived with a ruptured diaphragm and collapsed lungs.

To this day, Jamison doesn’t remember anything about the crash.

“I remember nothing about the crash, but I do remember my family, my team, the community, the coaches, everyone showing love and being there for me, helping me get out of the hospital and recover. I’m not even talking about recovery to play ball. It helped a lot and it really helped me look at life from a different perspective,” Jamison said.

In the days and weeks after the accident, Jamison continued to heal in the hospital and when he dribbled a basketball halfway down the hallway, he let everyone, including himself, know he would return to the hardwood.

“I’m not sure what I was thinking, but knowing myself I was sure I would play again. I slowly got more impatient and irritated with not being able to play, but a lot of people helped with knowing I could not be here now and there are things more important than basketball,” Jamison said.

Seventeen days after the accident, Jamison was released from the hospital and he quickly found himself in a familiar environment — the Homestead gymnasium.

“It was crazy to be back in the gym. Getting released from the hospital, I went home to change clothes and went straight to the gym to watch practice, be with the team and shoot a bit. It was probably one of the best moments of my life to see the team so excited and to be able to shoot and make shots,” Jamison said.

He made a three pointer in a video that instantly went viral. While the shot felt good, he knew internally he had to do some major things to get ready for the season.

“I had to start taking it more serious if I wanted to play this year. I worked my tail off to try and give myself the best shot to play,” Jamison said.

The work paid off.

On Jan. 29, he was able to practice fully. On Feb. 5, Jamison was officially medically cleared and one night later, he suited up for Homestead on the road at Fort Wayne Wayne.

His first shot?

A 15 footer that found nothing but the bottom of the net.

“There was a lot of nerves. I thought I would do way worse coming into it. Any time I would do anything wrong in practice, I would think I am not ready or I am going to do horrible. It took me about three and a half games to really gain confidence back and play my game,” Jamison said.

After being on a deathbed days before the start of the season, Jamison was able to average 20 points per game and shot 40 percent from behind the arc.

“I surprised myself with the season I had. I did better than I thought and my only goal was to just play with my brothers another time and give us the best shot to win this thing. We fought as hard as we could,” Jamison said.

Since the final game, Jamison has continued to work on and off the court and has seen his recruiting flourish as a host of NAIA, Division 3 and JUCO schools have reached out.

“The recruiting has been great. I am looking to make a commitment very soon,” Jamison said.

Regardless of where he winds up, he knows he will be playing something that was almost taken away from him.

“It truly is special to be able to still play basketball and have my college paid for. I’ve always been the type of guy to be scared of nothing or anybody. It did nothing but make me more of that, knowing I can overcome anything and I can do anything,” Jamison said.