Kansas State football: 15 best wide receivers in Wildcats history
By John Buhler
Greatest wide receivers in Kansas State football history: 6. Brandon Banks
Brandon Banks is another great Kansas State wide receiver that came to Manhattan via the junior college route. Banks grew up in North Carolina but played his junior college ball in Bakersfield, California. After two years on the West Coast, Banks would make his way to the Little Apple in 2008.
Banks didn’t mess around when he finally got to the Big 12. He helped Kansas State win Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year for the second year in a row, as Deon Murphy earned that honor in 2007. Banks was as a receiver and as a kick returner during his first season with the K-State program.
He caught 67 passes for 1,049 yards and nine touchdowns. Banks also had seven rush attempts for 126 yards and a touchdown on the ground. As a return man, he had 18 kickoff returns for 498 yards and a touchdown, as well as five punt returns for 58 yards. However, K-State went 5-7 that season and head coach Ron Prince would not be back leading the program in 2009.
With Bill Snyder coming out of retirement to coach the Wildcats again in 2009, Banks did not disappoint in his senior season with the K-State program. Though his receiving numbers dropped to 56 catches for 705 yards and a touchdown, it wasn’t like he had a first-round quarterbacking talent throwing him the football anymore. Josh Freeman left school after his junior year to become the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ franchise quarterback.
While the pass-catching statistics weren’t what the were in 2008, Banks was named an All-American for his skills in the return game. He had 39 kick returns for 1,127 yards and a ridiculous four touchdowns, as well as 17 punt returns for 155 yards. This helped him be named Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Year in 2009 before Banks turned pro.
Banks went undrafted in 2010 but played three seasons in the NFL with the Washington Redskins from 2010 to 2012. After his three-year stint in the nation’s capital, he would embark on a career north of the border with the CFL. Since 2013, Banks has been a member of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, having made the CFL East All-Star Team each year from 2014 to 2018.