Your future, our focus
The plaques are new decorations in Brian Erickson’s office at Northwest College.
One reads “Region IX Coach of the Year.” It’s the first coach of the year award the Trappers’ head man has won. The larger plaque next to it reads, “Region IX Champions.” It’s the first Region IX championship Northwest has won in 46 years.
Erickson collected both awards last Saturday night when the Trappers triumphed in the Region IX tournament they hosted at loud and jam-packed Cabre Gym. In so doing they qualified for next week’s National Junior College Athletic Association championships in Hutchinson, Kan.
As he sat back in his chair Tuesday, an e-mail appeared on his computer screen. It was a congratulatory note from a representative of the Buffalo Bill Art Show and Sale in Cody.
Last September – before they began a glorious season that has led them to a 30-4 mark and a shot at a national crown beginning next Wednesday – Trapper basketball players helped tote paintings during the art show’s auction.
Erickson, the third-year Trapper head coach, has seemingly heard from just about everyone he has ever met in his 30 years. Since the end of last week, he estimates he’s received 200 e-mails, 75 text messages, 30 phone calls jamming his voice mail, and at least 150 “likes” on an article featuring him in the Enterprise.
One of Erickson’s goals has been to make Northwest the college basketball team of choice beyond Powell – extending its reach to Cody and the rest of the Big Horn Basin. That mission seems to be accomplished.
John Housel of Cody, a Northwest trustee for eight years, said the team’s run has bridged a gap.
“That’s kind of been my emphasis as a trustee,” he added.
The Trappers have won 17 straight games and are seeded seventh in the NJCAA championships, starting March 16.
“It certainly has brought greater attention to our college,” he said. “I hope we can continue with that success.”
The Trappers still can aspire to become the best team in school history. Only the 1966-67 club that went 32-4 and finished fourth in the NJCAA has done better.
Housel, a regular attendee at the high-scoring team’s games this season, said he saw many familiar Cody faces at the region tournament.
“Northwest is a northwest Wyoming college,” he says. “That is what we’re talking about – for people to treat it as their college.”
The Trappers have been fan-friendly in many ways, not merely on the court. Erickson’s players don’t just win, they also mingle with area residents.
They held a clinic in Meeteetse. They worked the art show in Cody. They help out at a Powell elementary school. They move furniture for senior citizens who need assistance.
That means the players are not just numbers.
Northwest has been likeable on and off the court, but the Trappers also like each other. Erickson could have chosen to fly 13 players, four coaches and a trainer to Hutchinson.
Instead, he has committed to a 15-hour bus ride. When he told the players, they thought he was joking. But, to share the experience more widely, he said he wanted to take along everyone who contributed.
“Everyone deserves this,” Erickson told his players. “Everyone” with a seat on the bus included redshirt players, two managers, student broadcasters, reporters and assistant trainers.
Tyler Chandler, the team captain from Evanston, immediately chimed in, speaking for the group.
“Let’s drive, coach,” he said. “Everyone needs to go.”
Although the biggest stars are Chris Boucher and William “Nicky” Desilien from Quebec, E.J. Hubbard from Texas, and D.J. Morgan from Chicago, the roster is heavily populated with Wyoming players. The most prominent is starting guard Colin May of Lovell. Redshirt guard Seth Bennett from Meeteetse will play next year.
“Finding good, smart Wyoming kids is beneficial to us,” Erickson said.
Perhaps one of the most remarkable testimonies to this team is that although the scholarship cap is 15, the Trappers played with the equivalent of nine full-time rides this year because scholarships are not fully funded. By comparison, of 17 teams in Region IX, the Trappers are about 10th in scholarship aid offered, Erickson said.
Only five Northwest players received full scholarships, he said. Six received partial scholarships and, including redshirts, there were seven walk-ons. Another $10,000 in funds would be welcome, Erickson said, and he hopes to garner new sponsors.
Longtime NWC vice president Mark Kitchen said he expects the exposure to provide “its biggest benefit” to the Trappers in recruiting.
The free advertising in terms of coverage of the victories has “certainly (produced) some kind of spinoff benefit that is not quantifiable. Certainly the awareness does increase the profile of the college, even if momentarily.
“It was fabulous to see so many Cody fans,” he added.
Days after qualifying for nationals, Northwest still seemed to be on a dizzy sort of high.
“I don’t think I’ve walked into a building on campus, or across campus, where people haven’t said, ‘Hey, great game,’” May said. “I feel like a celebrity.”
(Lew Freedman can be reached at lew@codyenterprise.com.)