Wilkins was born in
Crowley, Louisiana on November 11, 1914.[1] He won the
Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) national triple jump championship in 1934 with a jump of 48 ft 21⁄100 in (14.69 m).[2] At the
1936 Olympic Trials Wilkins placed second with 49 ft 1+1⁄2 in (14.97 m), qualifying for the American team together with
Rolland Romero and
Billy Brown; all three were from Louisiana, which had been America's leading triple jump state since the late 1920s.[3]: 83–84 [4] At the
Olympics in
Berlin Wilkins placed eighth, reaching 14.83 m (48 ft 7+3⁄4 in) in both the first and the third round and fouling in round two; he did not qualify for the last three rounds.[1]
Wilkins set his personal best, 49 ft 9 in (15.16 m), in
Baton Rouge on May 4, 1935.[5] He died in Crowley in February 1989.[1]