For the 79th time, the Gallatin Players of the Year Awards will honor basketball players in the Riverbend.
The annual banquet is 6 p.m. on Sunday, March 22 at Julia’s Banquet Center inside Eastgate Plaza in East Alton with the doors opening at 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $25 and attendees will receive a dinner prior to the festivities. Purchase tickets at the door with cash or check. Venmo and PayPal are also accepted. QR codes are available at the door for those options. Credit cards are not accepted.
Brandon Hogg, the CEO and founder of Ball Hogg Academy inside the Bridge Sportsplex in Edwardsville, will serve as this year’s keynote speaker. Hogg founded Ball Hogg in 2016 and expanded with the Bridge Sportsplex in 2021.
Prior to that, Hogg was a standout basketball player at Edwardsville High, Southern Indiana University and internationally where he won a pair of MVP awards and a trio of league championships.
His commitment to youth basketball in the area make him a well-known commodity among the prep basketball crowd being honored this year.
The Gallatin Awards, named for 1944 Roxana high grad, former NBA standout and Naismith Memorial Hall of Famer, the late Harry Gallatin, recognizes boys and girls varsity basketball players from the five Riverbend schools.
Players from Alton, Civic Memorial, East Alton-Wood River, Marquette Catholic and Roxana High Schools will receive accolades for boys and girls Player of the Year, 110 Percent, Free Throw and Team Sportsmanship. Besides trophies, all of the finalists from the programs for the POY and 110 percent awards receive a plaque to commemorate their special seasons. Every varsity player in attendance receives a Gallatin Awards t-shirt, too.
The John Simmons Award will also be bestowed to a member of the community who has exhibited strong support of the Gallatin Awards or the Riverbend basketball community. The special service award was renamed for Simmons in 2024 after he received it. Simmons was instrumental in the transition to the Gallatin Awards from the longtime Alton Exchange Club Awards in 2018 after the Exchange Club concluded its run in charge.
The awards banquet began in 1946, making it older than the NBA. It gave out boys awards until expanding to also give girls awards in 1994, making that award older than the WNBA. The NBA began later in ‘46, while the WNBA wasn’t started until 1997.
Gallatin Awards committee member and former East Alton Mayor Joe Silkwood will serve as emcee at the 79th fete. Silkwood, along with Bill Roseberry, Dan Cruz, Lawrence Gordon, Marcus Renken, Barry Macias, Chris Zupan and Jim Golenor form the committee.
Join the Gallatin Players of the Year Awards Facebook group page to stay up to date on news with the awards, their fundraising efforts and learn how you can offer support.