Nearly a dozen new athletes are set to join the Northwest College women’s basketball team this upcoming season, with recruits ranging from a Powell High School grad to players from across the Atlantic Ocean.

Coy Erickson is the one local recruit, an All-State selection this past season for the Panthers after averaging 10.6 points per game, 4.4 rebounds per game, 3.1 assists per game and 2.5 steals per game.

“She’s also gonna play soccer, so she’ll be kind of busy doing that at first,” coach Cody Helenbolt said. “Obviously being familiar with Northwest and being familiar with Powell, I think she’s going to be a great addition for us. She’s competitive and can shoot the ball, and those are two things that are always really nice to have on your team.”

Helenbolt added it will be nice to have Erickson on the team to help show the incoming freshmen who are not familiar with the town around Powell and the college.

Another recruit from the 3A West making her way to Powell for Northwest is Erica Wilson from Pinedale.

She is a three-time All-State honoree who averaged 16.3 points per game, 3.4 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 2 assists this past season.

“She was already friends with some of our returners, so that helped. She played with the Mountain View girls and against them in high school so I think that helped us get her,” Helenbolt said. “She brings some competitive fire that I like. I think her passing ability is going to help us, and then she can also shoot the ball and also distribute it.”

Making the trip just over the mountain from Tongue River will be Chaney Reish.

Reish is a four-time All-State selection, who averaged 17.4 points per game, 9.1 rebounds, 3.8 steals and 2.6 assists this past season and was a state champion her sophomore and junior seasons.

She will also be a volleyball player for the Trappers.

“She’s kind of similar to Addi [Hickey], just solidly built, and gets tons of rebounds. She can shoot a little bit. She can put the ball on the ground and then she’s just a good athlete and great kid,” Helenbolt said. “I’m excited when she gets done with volleyball to have her start playing for us.”

Another four-time All-State honoree from the 2A East joining the Trappers as a dual-sport athlete is Jaylin Mills from Sundance, whose team won the state championship this past year.

She averaged 23.3 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.8 and 1.5 assists to lead the Bulldogs to the title.

“She’s coming in to play volleyball and then got a hold of me and was like ‘hey, I want to play basketball too,’” Helenbolt said. “She had a phenomenal year in 2A. Her numbers are off the charts. Because she came in as a volleyball recruit, I haven’t seen her play as much basketball.”

He said he’s looking forward to her joining the team, and touted her good athletic ability. She joins alongside her cousin Maddie Mills, a sophomore from Upton.

The final Wyoming recruit for the Trappers is Kaycee Kosmicki from Southeast, who is a three-time All-State honoree and three-time state champion.

She averaged 11.1 points per game, 3.2 rebounds, 3.1 steals and 2.5 assists this past season.

“She impressed everybody at that (Wyoming All-Star Game) … I’m good friends with their coach Clint [Landon] from Green River. He called me and was like ‘she’s a stud, you’re gonna like her,’” Helenbolt said.

He added that the one thing that sold him 100% on bringing Kosmicki to Powell was when she got hurt her junior year for the Cyclones.

“She tore something in her shoulder. I don’t think she missed a game and she couldn’t even lift her arm up. So she just started shooting with her left hand and doing everything left-handed,” Helenbolt said. “So some of the film I watched of her junior year, you can tell she’s not really comfortable. She’s a tough Wyoming kid that’s gonna get after it.”

Utah is the next biggest source of Trapper recruits, as Izzy Wyaskett comes from Clearfield High School as a three-time All-State selection.

“I saw her play at a tournament, and the thing I loved about her is she’s another really competitive kid. She’s not very tall. She’s probably 5-4, 5-5, but when I was watching her, she was getting rebounds over kids that were way taller than her,” Helenbolt said. “You see the joy when she’s playing basketball, you can tell she loves it and she’s put in work to be an extremely good player.”

Maylee Anderson is another Utah recruit, who was named the 6A Player of the Year this past season for Syracuse High School.

“She had an aunt who played here about 15 years ago, so we started recruiting her pretty early,” Helenbolt said. “She’s played point a little bit, but she’s a really good shooter. She’s a lefty.”

Unfortunately, Anderson recently suffered a season ending injury that will likely see her redshirted this season.

A teammate of Anderson at Syracuse is also coming: Rachel McBride.

“Rachel is 6-4 and blocks a ton of shots. Really long, she can shoot the three. She can put the ball on the ground and take it to the hoop a little better than a lot of 6-4 kids,” Helenbolt said. “Her potential is really high. So we’re excited to get to work with her and just add length to our team.”

Peyton Schiltz is the lone recruit out of Arizona, making her way to Powell from Scottsdale.

“The thing that I like about her is she can probably play the 1-4. She had to play point for her team, but I think that she’s probably more of a natural 2-3,” Helenbolt said. “A player like her will be really valuable for us. Just being able to plug her in at whatever spot we need her to play at. She has a really good basketball IQ … When she came in on her visit she was going toe-to-toe with Emma [Pique], not backing down. So that just kind of tells me she has the right stuff to be successful.”

Semaj Williams, from Puyallup, Washington’s Emerald Ridge High School, is the final U.S. recruit.

“A little smaller, she’s about 5-4 to 5-5, but she’s extremely quick. Great ball-handler, can shoot, can guard the length of the floor and just a fun, positive kid to be around. She was All-League up in Washington in a really competitive league,” Helenbolt said. “She was going against Division I kids all the time up there.”

Two internationals will make their way from Spain, with the first being Martina Vargas from the Canary Islands.

“She is extremely fast. She’s like a walking fast break basically. Really aggressive on defense and can shoot the three a little bit too,” Helenbolt said. “She’s just a very positive, good kid. She’s from the Canary Islands, which is a little different, so I think she’ll bring some kind of cool perspective and a kid from an area that I’ve never met someone from before.”

The other Spanish recruit, Noa Romero, makes her way to Powell from Barcelona.

“She comes from the same club program that we got Emma from,” Helenbolt said. “She’s about 6-1 and can probably play the 3-4-5 for us. Bringing a little versatility … Coming from the same club as Emma, I felt really confident she’s going to have a good foundation of skills because Emma came in with a great skill level.”

Helenbolt said with this group he is hopeful the Trappers can match up with teams in almost any way possible.

“We still have the possibility of playing really long lineups, but we also are going to be able to match up with quickness a little better this year,” Helenbolt said. “I think you’re always going to give yourself a better chance if you have solid depth at different spots.”