• Source: DeLisha Milton-Jones

      • DeLisha Lachell Milton-Jones (born September 11, 1974) is an American retired professional basketball player and head coach of Old Dominion. Milton-Jones played college basketball for the University of Florida. She was a first-team All-American and SEC Player of the Year her senior season.
      Milton-Jones began her professional career in 1997 with the Portland Power, who drafted her second overall in the American Basketball League (ABL). After the dissolution of the ABL in 1998, Milton-Jones entered into the 1999 WNBA draft and was selected fourth overall by the Los Angeles Sparks. In her seventeen-season WNBA career, she has played for the Los Angeles Sparks (1999–2004, 2008–2012), the Washington Mystics (2005–07), the San Antonio Stars (2013), and the New York Liberty (2013–14).
      Milton-Jones is a two-time Olympic gold medalist (2000, 2008) and a two-time WNBA champion (2001, 2002) and has been selected to the WNBA All-Star Game three times (2000, 2004, 2007).


      Early life


      Milton-Jones was born DeLisha Lachell Milton in Riceboro, Georgia, in 1974. She attended Bradwell Institute in Hinesville, Georgia, where she played high school basketball for the Bradwell Tigers. Milton-Jones graduated from Bradwell in 1993.


      College career


      Milton-Jones accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where she played for coach Carol Ross's Florida Gators women's basketball team from 1993 to 1997. She was a four-year letterman, and led the Lady Gators to four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. As a senior in 1996–97, she was recognized as an All-American by the Associated Press, Kodak and the Basketball Times; she was also the winner of the Wade Trophy and the Honda Sports Award for basketball, recognizing the best women's basketball player in NCAA Division I.
      Milton-Jones was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 2007.


      = Florida statistics

      =

      Source


      USA Basketball


      Milton-Jones represented the US at the 1997 World University Games held in Marsala, Sicily, Italy, in August 1997. The USA team won all six games, earning the gold medal at the event. Milton-Jones averaged 10.3 points per game and recorded 14 steals, second highest on the team.
      Milton-Jones was named to the U.S. national team in 1998. The national team traveled to Berlin, Germany, in July and August 1998 for the FIBA World Championships. The U.S. team won a close opening game against Japan 95–89, then won their next six games easily. In the semifinal game against Brazil, the U.S. team was behind as much as ten points in the first half, but the U.S. team went on to win 93–79. The gold medal game was a rematch against Russia. In the first game, the Americans dominated almost from the beginning, but in the rematch, the Russian team took the early lead and led much of the way. With under two minutes remaining, the U.S. team was down by two points but the Americans responded, then held on to win the gold medal 71–65. Milton-Jones averaged 7.1 points per game.
      Milton-Jones is well known for the unusual length of her arms, which give her an eighty-four inch wingspan—typical of that of a seven-foot person. She was a member of the U.S. national women's basketball teams that won the gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia and the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, as well as the U.S. women's teams that won world championships in 1998 and 2002.


      Professional career




      = ABL

      =
      Milton-Jones was drafted second overall by the Portland Power in the 1997 American Basketball League (ABL) Draft. During her rookie season, Milton-Jones played in all 44 games and started in 35 of them. She averaged 28.1 minutes per game, 8.5 points, 2.3 assists, 1.5 steals and 4.9 rebounds. The ABL folded in December 1998. The Power played 13 games, all of which Milton-Jones started. She averaged 29.2 minutes per game, 11.9 points, 2.0 assists, 2.4 steals and 9.8 rebounds.


      = WNBA

      =
      In 1999, Milton-Jones was drafted 4th overall by the Los Angeles Sparks. She would play the first six years of her career with the Sparks from 1999 to 2004, playing alongside Lisa Leslie. During her six-year tenure with the Sparks, Milton-Jones won two WNBA championships in 2001 and 2002.
      In 2005, she was traded to the Washington Mystics in exchange for Chamique Holdsclaw and a first-round draft pick in the 2004 off-season.
      On April 22, 2008, Milton-Jones was reacquired by the Los Angeles Sparks in a trade for Taj McWilliams-Franklin.
      In 2013, she signed with the San Antonio Silver Stars before being released and then signed by the New York Liberty. On July 9, 2014, Milton-Jones was traded to the Atlanta Dream in exchange for Swin Cash
      In August 2015, Milton-Jones played in her 497th WNBA game, a then league-record for most WNBA games played (since been broken by Sue Bird).
      In 2016, Milton-Jones was released by the Dream.
      In September 2016, Miton-Jones officially announced her retirement.


      = Overseas

      =
      In 2003, she won the Euroleague Championship with team Ekaterinburg in Russia. In the 2005–06 season, she won the Euroleague with Gambrinus Brno of the Czech Republic and for the season 2006–07 she signed a two-year contract with Ros Casares Valencia of Spain. During the 2008–2009 WNBA off-season, Milton-Jones played for Ros Casares Valencia in Spain. for whom she also played during the 2007-08 off-season.


      Coaching career


      She became the second woman (after Ashley McElhiney) to coach a men's professional basketball team when, in 2005, she took over the ABA's Los Angeles Stars.
      On March 29, 2017, she was named the head coach of Pepperdine Waves women's basketball replacing Ryan Weisenberg. In 2019, Milton-Jones resigned from Pepperdine to become an assistant at Syracuse. On April 17, 2020, she was named head coach at Old Dominion University.


      Head coaching record




      Personal life


      Milton-Jones appeared in the 2000 movie Love and Basketball as Delisha Milton. In 2003, Milton-Jones married Roland Jones.


      Europe


      2001-2002: Lavezzini Basket Parma (Italy)
      2002-2004: UMMC Ekaterinburg (Russia)
      2007-2009: Ros Casares Valencia (Spain)


      Awards and honors


      Milton-Jones has received numerous awards and honors, some of which are listed below.


      = WNBA

      =
      2015 Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award


      = Gold Medals

      =
      2000 & 2008 Olympic Games
      2007 Tournament of Americas
      1998 & 2002 FIBA World Championship
      2002 Opals World Challenge
      1999 U.S. Olympic Cup
      1997 World University Games
      1994 U.S. Olympic Festival


      = Bronze Medal

      =
      2006 FIBA World Championship


      = Collegiate honors

      =
      1997 SEC Player of the Year
      1997 State Farm Wade Trophy
      1997 First-team All-American
      1997 First-team All-Southeastern Conference
      1996 First-team All-Southeastern Conference
      1995 Second-team All-Southeastern Conference
      1994 Southeastern Conference All-Freshman team
      SEC Player of the Week (February 27, 1995; December 15, 1996; January 5, 1997; January 26, 1997)


      WNBA career statistics




      = Regular season

      =


      = Postseason

      =


      See also



      List of Florida Gators in the WNBA
      List of multiple Olympic gold medalists
      List of Olympic medalists in basketball
      List of University of Florida alumni
      List of University of Florida Olympians
      List of University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame members


      References




      External links



      WNBA player profile of Delisha Milton-Jones
      USA basketball bio of Delisha Milton-Jones
      WNBA mini-interview with Delisha Milton-Jones

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