The 2019 Golden Horseshoe Athlete of the Year is Hamilton Tiger-Cats receiver Brandon Banks.
He beat out Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and New York Liberty guard Kia Nurse and took home the Bill Sturrup Award at the annual Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) dinner at Carmen’s Banquet Centre Thursday night.
In winning the 25th annual award, Banks became the first American and the first member of a professional sports team to win the honour.
Banks was named the Canadian Football League’s Most Outstanding Player in 2019 after leading the league in receptions (112), receiving yards (1,550) and touchdowns (13).
Gilgeous-Alexander was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team last year and played on Team World at the 2019 Rising Stars Challenge as part of the league’s all-star weekend.
Nurse was named a starter in the 2019 WNBA All-Star Game for the first time in her career and became just the third Canadian to play in the game.
Past Golden Horseshoe athletes of the year include swimmer Joanne Malar, Nashville Predators defenceman Ryan Ellis and golfer MacKenzie Hughes.