From St. Mary's Rutherford to the Final Four, remarkable journey for FAU's Nick Boyd continues

NEW YORK — He went from the gym at St. Mary’s Rutherford to the storied court at Madison Square Garden, and now, Nick Boyd is headed to the center of the college basketball world.

Boyd is bound for the Final Four.

The guard from Garnerville, New York, helped ninth-seeded Florida Atlantic beat No. 3 Kansas State 79-76 in their Elite Eight game Saturday at the Garden, and now the Owls will play the winner of No. 6 Creighton and fifth-seeded San Diego State in the national semifinals in Houston.

Boyd, who hit a key free throw on the front end of a one-and-one to put FAU up four with 29 seconds left, finished with four points, seven rebounds and one steal.

"It means everything," he said. "We worked so hard. I could never have imagined doing this in my home city, but God puts you in specific places for specific reasons."

What a ride it’s been for Boyd, who transferred from Don Bosco Prep to St. Mary’s before his junior season. Boyd scored 747 points as the Gaels' catalyst in his senior season.

"Gave me an opportunity," Boyd said of St. Mary's. "Unfortunately I just wasn’t good enough to play at Don Bosco Prep. But St. Mary’s gave me an opportunity, allowed me to be myself, grow into a player with some confidence, and I can’t thank them enough as well."

Gaels coach Brian Gaccione implored Division 2 coaches to consider him, warning them that if he went to prep school they’d never have another chance to offer him, because he would develop into a Division 1 player.

Boyd did take that gap year — at Bosco Institute in Indiana, where FAU coach Dusty May first watched him at a practice. May recruited him to Boca Raton.

"He’s just a humble dude, and he comes every single day like that," Boyd said of May. "Just the right fit. Something felt right."

While Kansas State fans outnumbered FAU’s, the Owls still had strong a representation in the Garden stands.

And plenty likely made the short trip across the Hudson River to see Boyd. In a quiet moment during the national anthem, a loud “Go, Nick Boyd!” call from the FAU faithful rang out.

When Boyd drained a three-pointer from the right wing to put FAU up by seven points with just less than seven minutes to go in the first half, huge cheers emanated from the same section.

Boyd, who made the game-winning bucket against Memphis in the first round, said earlier in the week that he grew up coming to the Garden to watch his uncle, former Rutgers head men’s basketball coach Fred Hill, coach the Scarlet Knights in Big East Tournament games.

"He mentored me so much, gave me so many opportunities," Boyd said. "Just the opportunity to see his teams play and be in practice. I can’t thank him enough, and I love him very much."

And on the court he grew up coming to, Boyd played two of the biggest games of his basketball life.

FAU is now two wins away from a national championship. It’s a tall task for the Owls, but they’ve already proved plenty of people wrong.

Boyd has played a key role in making that happen.

Now he’s in the Final Four, and he has a message for high school players who may have experienced what he did in high school.

"Just stay with it, no matter what anybody says," Boyd said. "You’ve got to sacrifice some things — parties, the friends. Sacrifice it all if you really want it. If you want, you’re going to have it. I promise you that."

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: St. Mary Rutherford's Nick Boyd headed to Final Four with FAU