Nick Boyd: College Hopeful, To College Standout

(Photo / University of Wisconsin Men's Basketball)

Nick Boyd’s High School Tenure

Nick Boyd, a 6-3 guard from Garnerville, New York, has quite an interesting background and journey to get to where he is today. His Uncle, Fred Hill, played an important role in his life, especially for basketball. At the time, Boyd was looking for high schools, and Hill was an assistant coach for the Seton Hall basketball team, so Boyd was looking at competitive high schools in New Jersey. Hill has also spent time as the head coach of Rutgers and an assistant at Northwestern, Fairleigh Dickinson, and Villanova, with 37 years of coaching experience.

Hill means a lot to Boyd. Boyd mentioned, “But just having his support on the big-time decisions has been everything to me. I mean, I feel like all the decisions I’ve made, I’ve listened to him and took that advice. He never really tells me what to do. He gave me his opinion, and you know, I did what I wanted with it. I value his opinion a lot. So I definitely take it into deep consideration and try to think out what’s best for me, but I know he wants what’s best for me. That’s just how our relationship works.”

The school he ultimately ended up choosing was Don Bosco Preparatory High School in Ramsey, New Jersey. He mentioned the main factors he chose Don Bosco were due to them being on the come up recruiting some talent, his uncle being familiar with the coaches, and his AAU teammates going to Bosco as well.

 

Freshman Year: Don Bosco Prep

His freshman year at Bosco was not how he envisioned it. He did not play a lot of minutes and did not really get the chance to prove himself on the freshman team. As a freshman, he was just 5’4/5’5 feet tall, so being an undersized guard also hurt him.

 

Sophomore Year: Don Bosco Prep

In his sophomore season, he earned a spot on the junior varsity team at Bosco. However, similarly to his freshman season, he did not earn much playing time. By the end of that season, he grew to about 5’10”. After the growth spurt, he became more motivated and worked harder to turn his goal of playing collegiate basketball into a reality.

He then spoke to his coaches and wanted to know his role for the future. They told him the truth, and he chose to transfer to St. Mary High School in Rutherford, New Jersey.

 

Junior Year: St. Mary High School

The adjustment from Don Bosco to St. Mary was rough at first for Boyd as he went from a well-known and established Catholic high school to a smaller and lesser-known school. He mentioned the transition as humbling and how it can hurt your ego and pride in a sense. On the other hand, he was grateful for the opportunity to play and be a varsity player. He worked diligently in the offseason to become the player he hoped for, and was working with a trainer that he is still close with to this day.

He finally made varsity in his junior season and was off to a strong start, scoring 363 points. However, before the state playoffs, he broke his leg in February. The severe injury came at the worst time, as junior year of high school is the most important year for college recruiting due to showcases and tournaments. He spent from February all the way until September of his senior year rehabbing, as he did not know if he would return the same player.

That injury in some ways broke him, as it was his first time being away from the game for an extended period of time, and that hurt him. There were many times he doubted if he would be the same player or even have the chance to play collegiate basketball. After taking it personally, he realized he cannot take anything for granted and worked his butt off to not only get back to he was, but improve.

 

Senior Year: St. Mary High School

All of the work he put in rehabbing from such a serious injury paid off and then some. He exploded his senior year, scoring 747 points as a senior, which set a single-season scoring record for the school and ranked #2 in the state in scoring. Even with that incredible season, he still could not even land a Division II offer. So after talking to his Uncle and the dream of going Division I, he went to Bosco Institute in Crown Point, Indiana, for a prep year.

 

Prep Year: Bosco Institute

Bosco Institute was one of the best avenues for Nick Boyd to get to where he was. He was able to solely focus on his game and his development. After adding 20 pounds of muscle, Division I college offers started to come in.

 

College Recruitment:

Sacred Heart was his first Division I offer, and it was a great feeling that boosted his confidence. He also had other offers and looks from the same low-tier Division I schools in the MAAC, such as Iona, Niagara, and Fairfield.

A Gonzaga assistant coach and Florida Atlantic head coach, Dusty May, watched him practice; May knew he had to have him.

“It was more his leadership, his personality,” May said. “And for whatever reason, I’ve always had an affection for lefties. He could pass the ball, he could shoot it. He didn’t look like the guards in our league because he wasn’t as physically developed. But as we got to know Nick, we realized how driven he was and how special of a person he is. …He’s an incredibly hard worker. I’ve never been around a better worker than Nick Boyd.”

After COVID and having a few FaceTimes and Zooms with May, Boyd felt Florida Atlantic was the right choice and committed there.

 

Freshman Year: Florida Atlantic University (2020-2021)

In his freshman year, he played in 22 games, where he averaged 5.4 points and two rebounds per game. He also had nine steals and had an impressive assist-to-turnover ratio of 39 assists to 19 turnovers.

He then redshirted the 2021-2022 season.

 

Redshirt Sophomore Year: Florida Atlantic University (2022-2023)

His redshirt sophomore season was a huge success and one of the most memorable and successful seasons he has ever had as a basketball player. He started 37 of the team’s 39 games at guard and averaged 8.9 points and 4.3 rebounds per game, which each put him fourth on the team. He shot 40% from three that season, which was the second-highest percentage on the team.

That season, he helped FAU go to the Final Four and earn their first tournament win in school history. It will be discussed later, but he also hit a game-winning layup with two seconds left to defeat the Memphis Tigers for the first March Madness win in school history. His 40% from three is the seventh highest in a single season in FAU history, and he’s fourth all-time in career FAU shooting percentage at 40%.

 

Junior Year: Florida Atlantic University (2023-2024)

Once again, FAU made it back to the big dance. However, their season ended earlier than the previous year. Boyd averaged 9.3 points but only started in 14 of the 27 games he appeared in.

After that disappointing season, the FAU team completely dismantled as May took the head coaching job at the University of Michigan. Center Vladislav Goldin joined May at Michigan and Alijah Martin transferred to the University of Florida and later won a National Championship.

 

Senior Year: San Diego State University (2024-2025)

May did end up trying to recruit Nick Boyd to join him and Goldin at Michigan. However, Boyd knew he had to do his own thing and transfer to San Diego State University. What attracted him their the most is because it suited his needs the most. Boyd complimented the Aztecs program their commitment to being gritty and their strong identity on defense. Boyd knew he wanted to work on one of his biggest weaknesses and improve his defense, which he knew would happen.

Before that season started, he broke his foot in July and sat out from July all the way until the middle of October. He was able to return just in time for the first game, but he only had a couple of weeks of practice.

Boyd started in all 31 games, averaging 13.4 points and 3.9 rebounds in 29.9 minutes per game. He was fifth in the Mountain West in assist-to-turnover ratio and seventh in assists. For the third time in his collegiate career, he made march madness but ultimately lost to the University of North Carolina Tar Heel in the play-in rounds.

 

Graduate Year: University of Wisconsin

After his lone season with the Aztecs and talking with his uncle and his coaches, he ultimately decided to enter the transfer portal again. With some serious offers including the Tar Heels, he chose to commit to the Wisconsin Badgers and be in the Big Ten Conference. Ever since he was a little kid, he has had the dream to play at the highest level, and now he gets to at a historic program and a historic conference. He will also have the opportunity to play against his former head coach in May.

 

Tournament Experience

Boyd has been very lucky in his collegiate career as he made it to March Madness three times. Most collegiate athletes do not even get the luxury of playing once, so Boyd is very lucky.

His first appearance came during the 2022-2023 season, when his Florida Atlantic Owls made it to the Final Four, defeating Memphis, Fairleigh Dickinson, Tennessee, and Kansas State. During the Memphis game, he hit a game-winning layup with two seconds left, which he mentioned was his favorite moment of his career.

The Tennessee and Kansas State games were super important to him as they were in New York at Madison Square Garden. He was so excited to play in the world’s most famous arena, especially in front of his friends and family. In the Kansas State game, he guarded Marquis Nowel, who is now in the G-League. Boyd mentioned that was the most difficult person he’s guarded.

 

Tournament Experience: Chapter 2

The season prior, they lost in the first round to Northwestern. He mentioned the biggest reason they did not go further the second time was due to taking the moment for granted.

“Because we felt like we kind of did it already. We felt like we’d been here before. Looking back on it, I don’t like that, because this is a dream that a bunch of college hoopers with to have. I kind of feel like I took that moment for granted. We didn’t really embrace it and treat it with enough respect, in my opinion.”

After that season, the FAU dream team went their separate ways. Boyd transferred to San Diego State. Head coach Dustin May and center Vladislav Goldin went to Michigan, and Alijah Martin went to the University of Florida and won a National Championship. Boyd mentioned how he came into FAU with Martin, and the two bonded over competition, whether in the weight room or the court, and competed even as a freshman.

 

Tournament Experience: Chapter 3

Once again Boyd made the tournament, but this time with a different school. In his lone season on a young Aztecs team, Boyd stepped in as the leader on and off the court and took them to the tournament. Unfortunately for him and the Aztecs, they were bounced in the Play-In by the UNC Tar Heels.

 

NIL

In July of 2021, NCAA Athletics changed drastically as NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) started, where collegiate athletes are now allowed to get paid. It has drastically changed the landscape of college athletics. Recruiting is now affected by how much money a school can offer, as well as how much of a global brand the school is, and outside sponsorships.

There have been many mixed opinions on NIL on whether college athletes should be paid and how they are paid.

Boyd feels, “I think it’s a great thing, man. It taught me a lot of lessons in terms of just how to handle money and how to deal with money on and off the court. How do you carry yourself when you have money? How do you be humble? Ultimately, how do you be smart with money? So getting this experience early is a blessing. I think athletes deserve the money because of how much work we put in.”

Boyd also mentioned that collegiate athletes should have financial literacy classes to help the student-athletes budget their money and finances. If that idea came to fruition, there probably would not be as many issues and complaints with NIL.

 

Goals & Attitude At Wisconsin

Boyd is definitely excited for the opportunity to play at Wisconsin and ready for the challenges and pressure that comes along with it. This upcoming season is important for him, especially individually and as a team. The better Wisconsin is and the longer their season is, the more NBA scouts will take notice of Nick Boyd and maybe even call his name on Draft night.

His goal is to get the NBA and does not care how long it takes. If he has to spend a few years in the G-League or even overseas, he will do it to ultimately get to the highest level of the game he has been playing his whole life. All the blood, sweat, tears, and injuries he’s dealt with would pay off if he could reach the NBA, if it hasn’t already.

As a player, Boyd mentioned Wisconsin is getting “Somebody who’s just going to play hard every single night, bring energy, play with passion, and play with emotion. Also, whether the shots fall or they don’t, somebody who’s just going to play hard, have fun, and bring that swag. As a person, just someone who loves God first, keeps God first, does his best to walk in God’s footsteps, and just be a kind person, and just help others.“