Your future, our focus
A bounce back season for the Northwest College men’s basketball team in Region IX led to multiple postseason honors. Davion McAdam was named to the Region IX first team, Juan Pablo Camargo was named a Region IX honorable mention and the late coach Jay Collins was named Coach of the Year.
McAdam, a sophomore from Casper, transferred to Northwest for his COVID-19 year of eligibility after spending two years at Casper College where he played in 41 games and averaged 5.5 points per game.
In his one year of action at Northwest, McAdam upped his scoring average to 21.9 a game in the 30 games for the Trappers, leading the Region IX North in scoring and finishing second overall in Region IX.
“It was a blessing, a goal I set for myself and to see it happen made me feel great,” McAdam said. “I feel really humbled I had great people that helped me do it and gave me opportunities.”
McAdam shot efficiently, shooting 47% from the field and 37.2% from 3-point range while also shooting 79.3% from the free throw line.
“I was very motivated — people wrote me off after two underwhelming seasons at Casper,” McAdam said. “I was very motivated this summer, I knew what I was capable of doing this year so with the right system and the right guys around me I knew I could flourish.”
The second Trapper to receive recognition in the postseason was Camargo, a sophomore from Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, who was the second leading scorer for Northwest this season at 11.2 points per game.
“It was an honor to receive that mention,” Camargo said. “I feel like it represents hard work not just from me but from the team.”
That was a decrease from his scoring average a year ago when he averaged 15.3 points per game.
However, Camargo maintained his rebounding averages from a year ago while increasing his blocking.
“This was a great season, we did great as a team,” Camargo said.
This season was played with the thought of the late coach Collins in the mind of the Trappers — Collins passed away in late July but was honored as the Region IX Coach of the Year in a touching tribute from his fellow coaches.
“It’s great for the program and great for the region to remember coach Collins and give him that award,” Camargo said. “He deserved it, he was a great coach and a great person.”
McAdam was recruited to Northwest by Collins but was unable to play under him, but he knows Collins was deserving of the award.
“It’s something he has deserved for a while,” McAdam said. “It was awesome to see him get some recognition because he was a great coach and did some great things for this college.”
Coach Andy Ward took over in the interim for Collins before the season began, and was touched that the coaches honored his friend after his untimely death.
“It was a great honor and tremendous tribute to him,” Ward said. “It not only speaks volumes to what he meant to Northwest College but what he meant to the league in general. I couldn’t think of a better way to honor him.”