What does Ticats vet have in common with NBA superstar SGA?

Hamilton Spectator

2 days ago

They look so young in the team photo that was snapped right after they won the junior boys city basketball championship.
A little over a decade later, the guy with the giant smile in the back row has gone on to become the best basketball player in the world. Meanwhile, the guy in the front row is starting at slotback Friday night for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
'It is surreal to me,' Tyler Ternowski says of the fact that at one time he was a teammate of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Hamilton Tiger-Cats wide receiver and special teams 'demon' Tyler Ternowski.
The latter has been widely celebrated lately for winning the NBA championship, the scoring title and being named league MVP. But heading into Friday's game against Toronto, the former's been getting plenty of plaudits, too.
Last week, in a massive win over Montreal, Ternowski caught a pass on a fake punt that led to a Ticats field goal and made a huge special-teams tackle late in the game that earned special praise from head coach Scott Milanovich in the dressing room when it was done.
'He can play any position on offence,' the coach says. 'He's a spark plug for our special teams. Homegrown kid that just loves to compete. So you can't have enough Tylers on your team.'
The five-year vet has become a fan favourite. Big hits on special teams and a gritty persona in a town like this will do that. Especially when you're not the biggest guy on the roster.
But he's also become a favourite in the room. Quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell raves about him. Offensive lineman Jakub Szott talks about how humble he is.
'Every time I ask him to call it up after practice, you can tell by the response from his teammates how much they love him,' Milanovich says. 'How much they respect him. And that's because of the way he plays. Because of the effort.'
His is a tough role to play. Especially for a guy who was the receiver at Waterloo. And the star on the football field at MacNab. Going from that to being a player who isn't usually the first option is an adjustment. One that can be frustrating.
But once or twice every game, you notice him. Because of his intensity and the fact that he's a special teams 'demon,' as his coach calls him.
Considering the familiarity Mitchell and Ternowski have — in off-seasons past they'd work out together and the latter would throw to the former every day — it wouldn't be at all surprising to see him have a huge receiving game one of these days as defences key on some of the bigger-name targets.
He's shown he can do it. In both his sophomore and junior years at university, he led the country in receiving, with 141 yards per game and then 144.9.
Before that, he was dominant on the field for MacNab. And in the winter, a member of that team with Gilgeous-Alexander.
Ticats tight end Jevoni Robinson is the team's resident basketball expert, having played at North Carolina State and then a year of pro in Europe. Did he know Ternowski had been a teammate of the world's best player?
'He never mentioned it,' he says.
OK, so what kind of player does he think Ternowski would've been on the court.
'Probably a pest,' he says with a big smile.
It may have been a quip and a friendly jab at a teammate, but it's bang on. Just ask Ternowski. He'll tell ya.
That high school team was stacked. Seven — including SGA — went on to play college ball in the States. Two others played at the university level in Canada. That year, it went 38-2 and won SOSSA.
It was such a powerhouse that 12 times the Lions won by at least 40 points and once it won by 69 and held its opponent to just seven points. The six-foot guard had more to do with the defensive side of things than any high-flying, highlight-reel buckets.
'They just asked me to be, not an enforcer, but a guy that would throw his body around,' Ternowski says. 'Play good defence and let those guys go do their thing.'
Tim Francis was the coach. He seconds that. He says the future Ticat didn't do much scoring that year but he was athletic, worked hard and did whatever was needed.
And what does the 27-year-old remember most about playing with his now-world-famous teammate? The locker room stuff, he says. Hanging out together. SGA was serious on the court but a jokester in the locker room.
Which might resonate so strongly because it sounds more than a little autobiographical.
'I'm a huge locker-room guy,' he says. 'Just the conversations you have with guys, the interactions you have. It's closed off that no one else can see and you're just a bunch of people that have the same mindset as you. It was a very good space to be in.'
Notes:
Argos QB
Chad Kelly
remains on the one-game injured list, so
Nick Arbuckle
will get the start for Toronto … Don't expect a whole lot of rushing in this one. The Argos are last in the league in rushing yards per game (46.5), average gain per rush (3.6) and second-last in rush attempts (51). Second-last in rush yards per game (52.7) and yards per rush (3.7)? That would be the Ticats, who are last in rush attempts with just 43 … Toronto and Hamilton have squared off 251 times over their histories. Hamilton leads the series 143-106 with two ties … WR
Brendan O'Leary-Orange
and DB
Robert Panabaker
enter the lineup this week. RB
Treshaun Ward
, OL
Jakub Szott
and WR
Keaton Bruggeling
come out … RB
Greg Bell
is a game-time decision … It appeared WR
Drew Wolitarski
might have made his Ticats debut this week but he remains on the one-game injured list … The Ticats have a three-game winning streak going over the Argos. But the combined margin of victory is just eight points … Teams that are leading after the third quarter are 16-0 so far this season … With 90 yards passing, QB
Bo Levi Mitchell
will hit 40,000 for his career. He is also just 625 yards away from leapfrogging
Tracy Ham
and moving into the top-10 in all-time passing yards. With a solid season, he could realistically then eclipse
Doug Flutie
(41,355),
Matt Dunigan
(41,857) and
Ron Lancaster
(43,857) before the year is out. After that, the jump goes to 52,867, which is held by
Kevin Glenn
… Hamilton's next two games after this one are against Ottawa (that's three in a row against the East), which makes this a key stretch for playoff positioning.
When
Friday, 7:30 p.m.
Where
BMO Field
TV
TSN
Audio
Y108 and Ticats Audio Network
Weather
24 C and clear
Last week
Hamilton beat Montreal 35-17 and Toronto beat Ottawa 29-16 — the first win of the year for both clubs.
Last year
The Tiger-Cats beat the Argos in all three meetings in 2024, winning 27-24, 31-28 and 33-31
The Quote
'I still always have that chip on my shoulder when I play them. That's just me. I just have this killer mindset whenever I play them.' —
former Argo and now Ticat DB Jamal Peters on rivalry games with Toronto