Ticats’ Brandon Banks wins 2019 Golden Horseshoe Athlete of the Year

A big year for Ticats’ receiver Brandon Banks has landed him another award — the 2019 Golden Horseshoe Athlete of the Year.

The award is given out annually to top athletes in the Hamilton/Burlington area.

Banks is the first Tiger-Cat to win the award, edging out two other finalists in New York Liberty (WNBA) guard Kia Nurse and Oklahoma City Thunder (NBA) guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Past recipients awarded since 1995 include Nurse, Laura Fortino, Mackenzie Hughes, Melissa Tancredi, Ryan Ellis, Kyle Quinlan, Jesse Lumsden (prior to his Tiger-Cats career) and Joanne Malar.

In 2019, Banks was named the Canadian Football League’s Most Outstanding Player and was named to his fourth CFL all-star team after leading the league in all major receiving categories, including receptions (112), yards (1,550), touchdowns (13), and targets (158) in 16 games.

The five-foot-seven, 155-pound native of Garner, North Carolina’s 112 receptions also set a Ticats’ single-season franchise record, helping Hamilton to a franchise-best 15-3 record and Grey Cup berth.