Wilkins served in the Marine Corps during WWII before receiving a discharge after his vision was impaired when he was hit in the eye with a shell casing during training.

[1] He enrolled at the University of Oregon and joined the Webfoots basketball as a forward and baseball team as a pitcher.

As a freshman, Wilkins was the leading scorer in the 1945 NCAA tournament with 22 points per game.

[7] Wilkins led the Texans with 32 receptions, 416 receiving yards and three touchdown catches in 1952.

He was acquired by the Giants in a trade in 1954 and played in four games before suffering a shoulder injury.