A team captain in both his junior and senior seasons, Wilbur Aikins played four years of varsity basketball at Kean (then Newark State College), meriting a first-team All-Conference selection as a senior and second-team honors as a junior.

A member of the school's 1,000 point club, Aikins tallied over 1,300 over the course of his prolific career, including 446 during the 1971-1972 season, 206 of which were scored in conference play.

Aikins was also a member and co-captain of the 1970 Newark State football team, the first such squad fielded by the school.  A knee injury forced him to forego the sport in his senior year.

Aikins earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in health and physical education in 1972.