In between the Northwest College men’s and women’s basketball games on Friday night the Trappers honored the memory of the late Jay Collins who passed away suddenly in July 2022. The Trapper coaches each picked one player on their team who best represents what Collins stood for during his time as the Northwest College men’s basketball head coach. Sophomores Preston Condie and Jai’La Porter were named the Heart of a Champion award recipients for 2024.

On the men’s side, Condie came to Northwest from Price, Utah, joining the Trappers last season following a mission in Argentina.

“I was very surprised to be honest. It was a huge honor to get,” Condie said.

He arrived at Northwest as the final recruit that Collins brought to Northwest, having signed before he went on a mission in 2021.

“I actually never realized I was the last recruit. I remember the day when he (Collins) came over to my house the day of my graduation in high school back in 2021 and I still remember the day my dad told me while I was serving my LDS mission in Argentina about the death of coach Collins. I was very sad at the moment, he was a really great guy,” Condie said. “It was awesome to see that I was still able to come to Northwest and be able to represent him this weekend, that we honored him by playing these two games.”

The Heart of a Champion award typically goes to the person who is the toughest, hard-working athlete on each team.

“He exhibits all the things that coach Collins would appreciate,” coach Andy Ward said. “He’s a great teammate, he’s a hard worker and he’s just all about us trying to win.”

Condie has entered into his sophomore year better prepared, having doubled his scoring average to 10.9 points per game early in the season while increasing his shooting splits, as he and the Trappers continue to improve.

“I’m way more prepared this year. I put my time in the gym,” Condie said. “We have progressed a lot. We definitely have a tougher schedule this year and we played a lot of tough teams already. Some of them just got away from us but we just have got to keep plugging away and keep going.”

On the women’s side, Porter returned to the Trappers from Colorado Springs, Colorado, and has shown great strides in her second season in the program.

“I feel we have a lot of great players on our team that could have gotten that award. So I’m shocked, but definitely grateful that I got the award,” Porter said.

Porter put in plenty of work in the offseason, jumping into the starting lineup for the Trappers while increasing her scoring average from 2.9 to 9.9 points per game as new coach Cody Helenbolt has shown confidence in her early in the year.

“I’ve just got to keep doing what he expects, and live up to that award. I would say that’s the challenging part,” Porter said. “I feel confident, I feel like I’m not thinking as much which is just nice. I just feel like the team puts that (confidence) in me. Just knowing they all believe in me helps a lot.”

Helenbolt said Porter is a perfect candidate for the award.

“She’s one-of-one. You don’t come across a lot of kids like her that just have that drive and work ethic and great attitude,” Helenbolt said. “She’s a kid that everyone just respects and loves because she does everything the right way. I don’t think you’d find anyone on campus that would say one negative thing about her. That’s the goal is to live your life in a way that people just have so much respect for. That’s her, so it was an easy choice.”