Matt Milon, an elite shooter, will transfer to UCF MBB for his final season.
Matt Milon is coming home.
The Oviedo native on Wednesday announced his intent to transfer to UCF where he will finish his one remaining year of collegiate eligibility.
Milon, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard who is regarded as one of the top available graduate transfers, began his career at Boston College and spent the past two seasons at William & Mary.
"I had a really good visit last week at UCF," Milon said. "I spent a lot of time with Coach (Johnny) Dawkins. My parents have worked at UCF for the last 18 years so I know the campus real well. I know everything about it being that I live 15 minutes away. I spent most of my time getting to know Dawkins and the coaches. The program has really changed in a positive way. I thought about it a lot, comparing UCF to my other visits and I came to a decision last night. I called Coach Dawkins and told him I wanted to come.
"I'm really excited about it. The fit and everything about it was great. I was kind of leaning to UCF already and they were going to come up today and give me their final pitch. Dawkins welcomed me to the family and said that he can sleep now. All the coaches called me. My family is really happy about it. I think it's going to be really good for me, my family, Orlando and UCF. It makes me want to work extra hard knowing I'll be playing in front of my family in the city where I'm from. It was too much to pass up. I first went to BC and it didn't work out, then got a really good degree from William & Mary that will be valuable the rest of my life. Now I get to come home. It's icing on the cake. I'm really happy."
Milon comes from a UCF family. His father, Walter Milon, Ph.D., is an economics professor at the school. His mother, Abby Milon, is a lecturer in legal studies.
"They were really happy," Milon said. "I actually kept them out of the loop. I told them I wanted to make my own decision, so they were neutral. Once I called them and told them I'm coming home, they were so happy they didn't have to be neutral anymore. They've been praying about it and I've been praying on it too. I'm just really happy and excited."
At Oviedo, Milon was the Class 7A Player of the Year as a junior and senior and a finalist for Mr. Florida Basketball.
Milon also considered Virginia Tech, Ohio State and Charlotte before opting to shut it down and commit to the Knights.
"UCF really felt like a family," Milon said. "I really felt that. They genuinely wanted me. I was their top priority from the beginning. It was a no-brainer once I started comparing everything. There's a lot of positivity around the program. I spoke with B.J. Taylor, Matt Williams and Chad Brown and they all spoke highly of playing for Coach Dawkins. Matt and I talked a lot about how good Dawkins is for guys like us that can shoot. Matt really enjoyed it and felt he got a lot better in his year with him."
In his two seasons at William & Mary, Milon averaged 13.0 points per game and became renown as a high level three-pointer shooter with a 41.3 long-range percentage. He connected on 89-of-222 treys this past season.
"Coach Dawkins and I watched a lot of film (during the visit)," Milon said. "He was showing me how I'm going to fit in, how they used Matt, stuff like that. He coached J.J. Redick at Duke, so he's got a good track record with guys like me who can shoot. With (Alabama transfer) Dazon Ingram being a point guard and distributing the ball, they need somebody to space the floor. I felt a real good connection with Dawkins. He wanted to coach me. I think that's real important, when there's a real want and need for you in a program. They're going to take care of you and look out for you."
For his graduate degree, Milon plans to enroll in UCF's acclaimed DeVos Sport Business Management Program. After his playing days have ended, he'd love to pursue a professional career in basketball, maybe in an NBA front office.
From the moment he made his announcement, Milon said he's been hearing virtually nonstop from excited people back in Central Florida.
"My phone has been blowing up all day," he said. "Texts, Twitter and Instagram, people are just saying how happy they are. It's just really cool. Two of my best friends go to UCF and they'll be at every game. All my people are at UCF. It's special. It's humbling for sure, all these years after high school and people still care about you back home."
UCF won their first NCAA Tournament game this past season, nearly advancing to the Sweet Sixteen before a last-second loss to No. 1 Duke. The Knights must replace their top three scorers from that team, but with Milon joining the fold along with the recent addition of Ingram, it could be more of a reload instead of a rebuild.
"I want to definitely continue to build on the success they've had," Milon said. "They've built it up into a great program. I'm going to work as hard as I can. Individual goals are nice, but I just want to win. I think I can be a big part of that with the plan Coach Dawkins has for me. I think I'll have a big role. I'm going to work my tail off. I'm just really happy and excited about it. I'm going to attack it and have the best year that I can."
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