Anquan Boldin Jr., son of former NFL wide receiver, commits to UB men's basketball

His father, Anquan Sr., was a wide receiver in the NFL for 14 years, helped the Baltimore Ravens win a Super Bowl, and had a very short stint with the Buffalo Bills before he announced his plans to retire in August 2017.

But basketball is his son’s game, and Anquan Jr. is now part of George Halcovage III’s first recruiting class as head coach of the Bulls.

Anquan Jr., who goes by AJ, announced his commitment to UB on his social media accounts Wednesday, and is the fifth high-school or junior-college player to commit to the Bulls since Halcovage was hired March 30.

Boldin visited UB last weekend with his family, including his father, and picked the Bulls over Manhattan, Eastern Michigan and North Carolina A&T.  

“My parents gave me advice through the recruiting process, but at the end of the day, this was my decision,” Anquan Boldin Jr. told The Buffalo News. “For my dad, it was good for him to come back and see more of the city, because he wasn’t there for that long, but it was a good visit.”

Boldin is a 6-foot-5 guard who played at IMG Academy's postgraduate team in Florida this season. He averaged 11 points, four rebounds, two assists and one block in 27 games. 

“George really likes having big guards on his team,” said Boldin. “He wants me to be versatile and he sees me as a person who could be a two-way player, a great defender and a scorer and someone who can distribute the ball.”

UB begins its offseason team workouts in the second full week of June, and Boldin has a few areas where he wants to improve before the season begins: ballhandling, shooting, and building strength a to play at the college level.

“It’s going to be physical, and I have to get stronger,” he said.

He joins a recruiting class that is heavy at the perimeter, with incoming guards Ryan Sabol, Bryson Wilson and Shawn Fulcher, and wing Diovion Famakinde. UB’s five remaining players from the 2022-23 season include guard Kanye Jones, wing Isaiah Adams and forwards Zaakir Williamson, Sy Chatman and Jonnivius Smith.

“I am going to work as hard as I can, and do anything the coaches need me to do, to win,” Boldin said. “I bring a lot of energy to the team.”

Now at 10 players, UB has three remaining scholarships for the 2023-24 season. The Bulls also have yet to bring in a transfer from the Division I level. Amarri Tice, a 6-foot-7 forward who was a freshman at Wofford this season, was considering UB as a transfer destination but announced Tuesday he will play at Quinnipiac.

Boldin chose UB because he believed in the coaching staff’s philosophy of development and the emphasis it places on a strong work ethic. Halcovage’s 15-year tenure at Villanova also impressed Boldin.

“He’s going to set the standards high, every single day,” Boldin said. “Seeing the people Villanova has produced, that’s my goal, to get to the professional level, and he can develop me into one of those players.”

UB releases salary information for Jacey Brooks

Jacey Brooks, who was named as UB's associate head coach in women's basketball on April 25, will earn an annual salary of $107,000. 

It's a $32,000 increase from her salary at SUNY Cortland; she earned $75,000 annually as coach of the Red Dragons, a Division III women's basketball program. 

The News obtained Brooks' salary information at UB and at Cortland through Freedom of Information Law requests. 

Brooks was 79-32 in five years at Cortland (the Red Dragons did not play in 2020-21 due to the Covid-19 pandemic), and led the program to three Division III tournament appearances. Brooks is a 2006 Buffalo State graduate who has also coached as an assistant with the women's programs at Bowling Green, Canisius and St. Bonaventure.