Milligan's Garden roots run deep
With UMass in NIT semifinals, senior makes a heavyhearted trip = home
It wasn't a matter of giving up, Dante Milligan insists. And it = wasn't really=20 a matter of letting go - as much as the 24-year-old University of = Massachusetts=20 senior had come to regard that as a kind of maturity. You get to a = certain point=20 in life and you realize that loss is inevitable. Certainly he had seen = that.
No, as Milligan looked up at the scoreboard last Tuesday night at the = Carrier=20 Dome and saw Syracuse leading UMass in the second half, 54-32, it was a = matter=20 of being realistic.
"I was just trying to make it respectable," he said. "I knew we = didn't want=20 to go out like that."
Difficult things were possible, he knew. Almost-impossible things = were=20 possible. What was that old saying? The one about the journey of 1,000=20 miles?
When Syracuse's Paul Harris missed a 3-point attempt, Milligan = grabbed the=20 rebound.
It begins with a single step.
He wanted so much to win this game. A victory would take UMass to the = semifinals of the National Invitation Tournament at Madison Square = Garden. That=20 meant that UMass's other two scholarship seniors, Gary Forbes and = Etienne=20 Brower, would get to finish their careers where they started them, in = New=20 York.
And Milligan would, too - not just in the city where he had grown up, = but at=20 the "world's most famous arena."
It was more than that, though, much more. For Milligan, and for his = only=20 sibling, his kid brother, Alonzo, the Garden had always been a magical=20 place.
Milligan had some people rooting hard for him to get there. For sure, = his=20 mother, Ruby, was watching the Syracuse game. He always keeps Ruby = close. Her=20 picture is tattooed on his chest with the words, "My heart, my = soul."
And Milligan had little doubt that Dan Schoenberg would be watching. = The vice=20 president of public relations for MSG Media, Schoenberg was more than a = close=20 family friend. For years, he had been Alonzo's Big Brother in the Big = Brothers=20 Big Sisters program. When Dante was home from boarding school, he, too, = would=20 connect with Schoenberg. They would meet at Asphalt Green on 90th Street = to play=20 ball, Alonzo and Dante walking from their home in East Harlem, = Schoenberg=20 rollerblading from his apartment on 80th Street and 2nd Avenue.
Schoenberg had opened up their world. Over and over again, the = Milligans=20 would get on the subway down to 34th Street and walk star-struck into = the=20 Garden. Through Schoenberg, the boys became well-known in both the = corporate=20 offices and the Knicks locker room. They went to concerts and prize = fights and=20 lots of basketball games, college and pro.
One day, Dante used to tell Alonzo, you're going to see me play on = this=20 court.
Maybe Alonzo was watching that game at Syracuse, too, odd as that = might=20 sound. If so, he would have enjoyed looking at Dante's sneakers, the = ones with=20 "R.I.P. Zo Millz" written on them. And perhaps he would see the tattoo = on=20 Dante's right arm. He would recognize the words. They came from a poster = Ruby=20 had put up in the childhood room the boys shared, an inspirational one = about the=20 A-to-Z lessons of life. Long before he was killed, Alonzo had tattooed = the "E"=20 message on his own arm: "Enjoy life today. Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow = may never=20 come."
Those words are now inked on Dante's shoulder just above a picture of = his=20 brother.
The college carousel
As children, Dante and Alonzo loved to go = to the=20 Boys' Club of New York on 111th Street. That was where they made their = first=20 friends, where they learned to play ball. Ruby, too, became a fixture, = meeting=20 the administrators, finding out about programs that would enhance her = sons'=20 lives.When Ruby and her husband, Michael Harper, separated, Ruby figured = the boys=20 needed another good male role model and applied to Big Brothers Big = Sisters.=20 Alonzo got matched with Schoenberg. The fit was perfect.
"I love Dan," said Ruby, an assistant teacher of special education. = "He was a=20 slim, tall, Jewish guy. I just loved his sense of humor. He was for = real."
According to Ruby, Alonzo blossomed with Dan's help, which became = ever more=20 important when Dante was accepted into boarding school through a Boys' = Club=20 program. Buying a couple of suits and a tie, the slender eighth-grader = from=20 Harlem went off to the Rectory School in Pomfret, Conn.
Separated for the first time, the Milligan boys nevertheless stayed = close.=20 According to Ruby, every time Dante came home, Alonzo had to be there at = the=20 door, or to meet the bus at the Port Authority.
When he was home, Dante loved to join Alonzo at the Garden. He met = players=20 such as Patrick Ewing, John Starks, and Allan Houston. He came to know = the=20 executives who worked alongside Schoenberg.
"Everybody in that environment all kind of knew us," he said. "It was = another=20 home."
Finding a home in college would not prove so easy. In 2003, Milligan = accepted=20 a scholarship to the University of Pittsburgh, but before he arrived, = coach Ben=20 Howland left for UCLA. Howland's replacement, Jamie Dixon, elected to = redshirt=20 Milligan for his freshman season.
Returning in the fall of 2004, he injured his thumb, and got in a = dispute=20 with the staff about whether he required surgery. In the first semester, = he=20 played through pain in parts of five games, scoring 7 points.
Frustrated, he decided to transfer after the semester to UMass, whose = coach=20 at the time was Steve Lappas. Milligan knew he would have to sit out two = semesters as a transfer, but it felt like the right move. He liked = Lappas's=20 style of basketball, and he figured he could have the surgery on his = thumb and=20 learn the system. But after the 2004-05 season, Lappas was fired and = replaced by=20 Travis Ford.
Milligan, who had played exactly 23 minutes of college ball, was = already on=20 his fourth head coach.
Caught in crossfire
That summer, Dante was staying at his = mother's=20 apartment on 24th Street, where she had moved a couple of years earlier. = On the=20 night of June 25, Alonzo, then 19 and a student at the Borough of = Manhattan=20 Community College, visited the old neighborhood. He went with some = friends to a=20 baby shower.What could be more innocent?
According to Ruby, there had been a neighborhood dispute in the = preceding=20 days. She thinks it had to do with a bicycle. After the baby shower, = there was a=20 confrontation, and suddenly a hail of gunfire. Alonzo saw a friend go = down and=20 raced over to him when he was shot, just behind the hip, the bullet = tearing into=20 his midsection.
It was a horrific scene. Hysterical, Ruby called Dante and left a = message=20 with Schoenberg, who was away for the weekend on Long Island. When = Schoenberg=20 got the message Sunday morning, he sped into the city to Harlem = Hospital.
"Alonzo," he said, "it's Dan, man. You've got to keep fighting, kid. = You've=20 got to keep fighting. We love you. We're here for you."
Alonzo managed to open his eye, and a tear fell.
There had been massive internal bleeding, but it seemed that Alonzo = might=20 make it. Late on Sunday night, Schoenberg convinced the exhausted family = to go=20 home and get some sleep. In the wee hours, things took a sharp turn for = the=20 worse. Schoenberg noticed a bevy of activity in Alonzo's room, and = called=20 Dante.
"He was just crying and crying," Dante recalled.
There was, of course, no coming back from that. Ruby, who had already = lost=20 three of her siblings in unrelated deaths, had now lost her baby boy. = She sought=20 what comfort she could from counseling, from friends like Schoenberg, = from her=20 work with young children, and from the rock that her eldest son was=20 becoming.
"I could not figure out how he did it," Ruby said, pointing out that = in the=20 aftermath of the tragedy Dante declared a double major (in sports = management and=20 communications) and had his best semester in the classroom. "Some kids = would=20 just give up, but for some reason Dante kept strong. Not only did he do = it for=20 himself; he did it for his brother, who never got the chance."
His chance arrives
Everywhere Dante went, he brought the = obituary card=20 from Alonzo's funeral. He still refers to it as his prize possession.On the court, progress was slow. In his first semester of = eligibility, he=20 played sparingly. One of those games, though, was at the Garden when = UMass=20 played Saint Peter's in the Holiday Classic. At halftime, Dante and Ruby = went=20 out to center court to present checks to the first recipients of the = Alonzo=20 Milligan Mentorship Award, scholarship money for promising kids from the = Boys'=20 Club. Jamal Crawford of the Knicks cut the first check to launch the=20 program.
"It was an unbelievable moment," said Schoenberg. "I've been at the = Garden=20 for 12 years. It's probably the greatest memory I have here."
Milligan was a redshirt junior last year when UMass fell just shy of = the NCAA=20 Tournament, making it to the NIT, winning one game.
Milligan knew he would get a chance to shine for the first time this = season.=20 Expectations for the Minutemen in most circles were not very high.
They surprised in the early going, however, running off an 11-3 = nonleague=20 record. The highlight was a startling 107-100 victory at Syracuse, the = most=20 points the Orange had ever given up at the Carrier Dome. Players began = to=20 express hopes of making it to the NCAA Tournament, where UMass had not = played in=20 a decade.
But in A-10 play, UMass faltered. The Minutemen started out 4-6. On=20 Valentine's Day, the season hit its nadir as UMass dropped a game at = home to=20 Fordham. Hopes for the NCAA Tournament all but vanished. Ford turned=20 emphatically to Milligan, the long-armed, 6-foot-9-inch player, and told = him he=20 needed more.
In the next game, playing against a Saint Louis squad that had = already beaten=20 UMass, Milligan put up a career-high 21 points. That got the Minutemen = rolling=20 on a six-game winning streak to close the regular season at 21-9.
"Our team can't win unless Dante is playing significant minutes," = Ford=20 concluded. "And we can't win if he's not playing his best."
UMass probably needed one win in the A-10 tournament to earn that = NCAA berth.=20 The Minutemen appeared to be home free with a 17-point halftime lead = against=20 Charlotte.
Then came the avalanche as Charlotte stormed back. The Minutemen grew = tentative. After the 69-65 loss, several players had to be helped off = the=20 floor.
After absorbing the disappointment, Milligan recalibrated his goals. = The NIT?=20 Three wins? A trip back to the Garden.
Epic comeback
Some questioned whether UMass would be = sufficiently=20 motivated in the NIT. In the first game against Stephen F. Austin, = Milligan put=20 up 24 points in an 80-60 win. In Round 2, UMass rallied from 12 back in = the=20 second half to beat Akron.That set up a rematch with Syracuse, one of the gold standards of = college=20 basketball. Not since 1923 had an opponent won two games in the same = season at=20 Syracuse. And the memory of the 107-point ambush in December had to be=20 fresh.
With Ruby cheering from home, Milligan scored the first points of the = game.=20 But by the time Schoenberg tuned in midway through the first half, ESPN=20 announcers Sean McDonough and Fran Fraschilla were chronicling a = double-digit=20 deficit for the Minutemen. By halftime it was 43-24.
Then it got worse.
The deficit stretched to 22 with 14:37 remaining when Milligan = grabbed that=20 rebound off the Harris miss.
UMass closed the gap, but still trailed by 14 with 7:48 left.
With 1:36 remaining, and UMass down, 76-71, Syracuse's Donte Green = was=20 fouled. On the broadcast, McDonough said, "Their 5-man is Milligan, = who's really=20 out of position. He's playing valiantly, trying to be a 5-man, but = that's not=20 really his natural position."
In her apartment, Ruby looked at Green at the line and invoked her = "sixth=20 man."
"Knock it out, Zo!" she said.
Green missed both free throws.
On the other end, Brower missed a 3-pointer, but Milligan grabbed the = rebound=20 and fired it off the glass to make it 76-73.
"So much for Dante Milligan being out of position as a 5," said = McDonough.=20 "He had great position inside."
UMass's Ricky Harris nailed a 3-pointer to make it 77-76. Less than a = minute=20 remained.
Brower then deflected a Syracuse pass to Forbes as more than 20,000 = Syracuse=20 fans looked on in disbelief. After a missed shot and a scrum, the = Minutemen=20 inbounded with 45 seconds remaining.
Chris Lowe sent a pass to Brower, then got the ball back behind the = 3-point=20 arc. He spun into the lane, drew the double-team, and fired a pass = inside.=20 Milligan grabbed it and hammered it through for a 78-77 lead.
There was still time for a Green drive to be swatted away by = Milligan, a=20 single free throw by Lowe to make it 79-77 with 17.1 seconds left. Then=20 Syracuse's Jonny Flynn drove into the lane. There's probably no need to = mention=20 who came up with the steal.
Milligan sent the ball up to Harris, who got fouled with 4.4 seconds = left.=20 Two free throws later, the game was over.
Tonight Dante Milligan leads UMass onto the Garden floor against = Florida,=20 winner of the last two NCAA Tournaments. He will have his fans very much = in=20 mind.
"I can't describe in words what Dan means to me and my family," he = said.
About Ruby, he said, "Every time I go out on the court, I try to play = for=20 her, especially now."
There's one other fan, of course, a young man who always wanted to = see his=20 brother play a college basketball game.
"My whole goal for wanting to get back to the Garden was because I =
knew that=20
was the one place where he had always gone where he could make a serious =
connection with me," Dante said. "That's why it was so important."
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