Senior nose guard Brandon Hicks recorded 52 tackles and seven sacks en route to helping lead the Falcon football team back to prominence with an 8-3 record. Now, he’s been named fourth-team All-American by The Sporting News.

The most recent award comes on the heels of The Sporting News naming Hicks defensive player of the year in the Mid- American Conference.

Hicks is the 15th football player from the University to win an All-American honor and the first since kicker Brian Lever in 1994.

“It’s great, it’s an honor,” Hicks said. “My coach told me at our banquet. I was floored, I didn’t know what to say.”

Players from more than 100 Division I schools were eligible to make the All-American list. Many of which are from larger schools from conferences like the Big Ten and the ACC.

Hicks said he was honored to be put in the same category as guys from such universities as Florida State, Penn State and Ohio State. “It’s honor to think that a panel of people sat down and decided I should be on one of these teams,” Hicks said.

Although being named All-American is an individual honor, Hicks said the award belongs to his team as much as it belongs to himself.

“It’s definitely a symbol of team success,” he said. “There’s no way (the panel) would have even looked at me if we didn’t have that success.”

After being announced as an All-American over the weekend, it was learned yesterday that Hicks will play in the East-West Shrine game at Safeco Field in San Francisco on Jan. 12.

Each of the nations top graduating seniors are chosen to play in the Shrine Game every year. Hicks will be the seventh Falcon ever to play in the game.

“We are very excited that Brandon has accepted our invitation to play in the East-West Shrine Game,” Said Jack Hart, executive director of the game, in a press release. “We are extremely pleased to have a representative from Bowling Green State University.”

Hicks said he is looking forward to the opportunity of playing against some of the nation’s best college football players.

“The coaches told me I was going to San Francisco and I thought they were talking about a bowl game,” Hicks said. “I’m really excited to go play in that game.”