When junior point guard Josh Newkirk decided to transfer from Pitt in early August, Pitt basketball head coach Jamie Dixon didn’t panic. Instead, he looked to a small junior college in Texas.
Though options are scarce that late in the process, Dixon stuck to an old adage of recruiting.
“There’s always a guy out there,” Dixon said.
At the end of August, that “guy” turned out to be Jonathan Milligan, a junior college point guard who will have two years of eligibility at Pitt after transferring from Kilgore College in Kilgore, Texas.
“We needed another guard,” Dixon said. “Given the situation, he was a pretty good pickup at that time of the year.”
Milligan’s availability was fortuitous. Milligan, who received interest from Tennessee, Creighton, Marquette and NC State out of high school, played two years at Kilgore, thriving there for two seasons.
He signed a letter of intent with Florida Gulf Coast in April only to find out in August that he didn’t qualify academically.
Some of his classes didn’t transfer at Florida Gulf Coast, Milligan said, making him ineligible. Left with little time, he and his coaches, who were familiar with Pitt, started evaluating alternate options.
“The coaches at Florida Gulf Coast and my coaches at Kilgore wanted to see me in a nice place where I would be taken care of,” Milligan said.
This left Milligan in the same position as Pitt in August — both looking for options at an inopportune time. When Pitt came knocking, Milligan jumped at the chance to play in a major conference.
“Pitt was my first option, and there was other options, but in my head Pitt was my only option because it’s the biggest stage, it’s the ACC,” Milligan said. “This is the kind of place people dream to come and play.”
This time around, Milligan qualified to transfer after taking the requisite summer courses at Kilgore. Though he’s a late addition to Pitt’s roster, Milligan doesn’t think this will limit his playing time. With senior James Robinson firmly entrenched as the starter at point guard, Milligan will fight for backup minutes with freshman Damon Wilson.
“Everybody sees that I’m putting in the work, I’m working hard. I’m very diligent in all the things that I do, so I think I’ll have that opportunity to contribute,” Milligan said.
That work, mainly, is in adding weight to his 6-foot-2, 170-pound frame, as well as acclimating himself on the defensive end.
The latter, Dixon said, will be a crucial adjustment for Milligan.
“We’ll see what he can do defensively. I think that’s going to be the biggest challenge for him,” Dixon said.
To Milligan’s credit, Robinson said the transfer is a capable defender to go along with his offensive prowess. Milligan averaged 14.3 points per game his sophomore year at Kilgore, while shooting 40.3 percent from three-point range.
“He’s a really quick player. He can really attack off the dribble,” Robinson said. “On defense he’s a pest. He uses his quickness and he’s smart. He knows when he can gamble for a steal or play the passing lane.”
Robinson, a four-year starter at Pitt, has assisted Milligan along the adjustment process, as he’s extremely in-synch with Dixon and his offensive and defensive principles.
“James has really been a big help, just getting me accustomed to how Dixon likes things, just being a leader,” Milligan said.
That acclimation to Pitt, mainly, will come on the basketball side, as Milligan got used to life away from his family at Kilgore. He doesn’t expect homesickness to be an issue.
“I got to get away from my mom, get away from my parents,” Milligan, an Orlando, Florida, native, said of attending Kilgore. “Looking after yourself and doing what you need to do when nobody’s around and nobody’s there to tell you to do it.”
As that transition to Pitt continues, Milligan said he can ingratiate himself to coaches and fans with his style of play.
“I’m a player,” Milligan said. “I’m going to play defense, play both ends, be aggressive. I’m going to be passionate.”