DeLisha Milton-Jones

Delisha Milton-Jones
	Milton-Jones at the 2007 WNBA All-Star game.
Old Dominion Monarchs
Position	Head coach
League	Sun Belt Conference
Personal information
Born	September 11, 1974 (age 50); Riceboro, Georgia, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight	185 lb (84 kg)
Career information
High school	Bradwell Institute; (Hinesville, Georgia)
College	Florida (1993–1997)
WNBA draft	1999: Supplemental round, 4th overall pick
	Selected by the Los Angeles Sparks
Playing career	1999–2015
Position	Small forward / power forward
Number	8, 3, 1
Coaching career	2016–present
Career history
As player:
1997–1998	Portland Power
1999–2004	Los Angeles Sparks
2002–2003	UMMC Ekaterinburg
2005–2007	Washington Mystics
2005–2006	Gambrinus Brno
2006–2008	Ros Casares Valencia
2008–2009	Ros Casares Valencia
2008–2012	Los Angeles Sparks
2013	San Antonio Silver Stars
2013–2014	New York Liberty
2014–2015	Atlanta Dream
As coach:
2016–2017	Pepperdine (assistant)
2017–2019	Pepperdine
2019–2020	Syracuse (assistant)
2020–present	Old Dominion
Career highlights and awards
	As player: 2× WNBA champion (2001, 2002); 3× WNBA All-Star (2000, 2004, 2007); Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award (2015); Wade Trophy (1997); Honda Sports Award for basketball (1997); Kodak All-American (1997); First-team All-American – AP (1997); SEC Player of the Year (1997); 2× First-team All-SEC (1996, 1997); SEC All-Freshman Team (1994);
Career statistics
Field goals completed	.440
Free throws completed	.790
Points scored	5,571
	Stats at WNBA.com
	Stats at Basketball Reference
Women's basketball
Representing the United States
Olympic Games
FIBA World Championship
Universiade

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.^[1]

Milton-Jones was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 2007.^[2]^[3]

Florida statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Year	Team	GP	Points	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1993-94	Florida	29	339	48.7%	0.0%	61.2%	11.5	1.1	2.4	0.4	11.7
1994-95	Florida	33	444	56.8%	0.0%	61.8%	6.6	0.8	2.5	0.4	13.5
1995-96	Florida	30	462	47.9%	0.0%	69.0%	8.7	1.6	1.5	0.5	15.4
1996-97	Florida	33	613	56.3%	0.0%	75.6%	8.9	2.0	2.6	0.6	18.6
Career		125	1858	52.7%	0.0%	67.9%	8.9	1.4	2.2	0.1	14.9

Source^[4]

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.^[5]

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.^[6]

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,^[7] 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.^[8] 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.^[9] 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.^[10]

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.^[11]

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).^[12]^[13]

In 2016, Milton-Jones was released by the Dream.^[14]

In September 2016, Miton-Jones officially announced her retirement.^[15]

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.^[16] for whom she also played during the 2007-08 off-season.^[17]

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

Statistics overview
Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Pepperdine Waves (West Coast Conference) (2017–2019)
2017–18	Pepperdine	10–20	5–13	T–8th
2018–19	Pepperdine	22–12	12–6	T–3rd	WNIT Third Round
Pepperdine:		32–32 (.500)	17–19 (.472)
Old Dominion Lady Monarchs (Conference USA) (2020–2022)
2020–21	Old Dominion	13–11	7–9	T–5th (East)
2021–22	Old Dominion	24–10	12–6	3rd (East)	WNIT Second round
Old Dominion Monarchs (Sun Belt Conference) (2022–present)
2022–23	Old Dominion	22–12	12–6	T–4th
2023–24	Old Dominion	22–9	12–6	4th
Old Dominion:		81–42 (.659)	43–27 (.614)
Total:		113–74 (.604)
National champion Postseason invitational champion Conference regular season champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Division regular season champion Division regular season and conference tournament champion Conference tournament champion

Personal life

Milton-Jones appeared in the 2000 movie Love and Basketball as Delisha Milton. In 2003, Milton-Jones married Roland Jones.^[18]

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^[19]

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

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game	RPG	Rebounds per game
APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game	BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game
TO	Turnovers per game	FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
Bold	Career best	°	League leader

†	Denotes seasons in which Milton-Jones won a WNBA championship

Regular season


Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
1999	Los Angeles	32	32	26.1	.530	.000	.791	5.5	1.6	1.5	0.5	2.2	9.9
2000	Los Angeles	32	32	30.7	.512	.250	.745	6.1	2.1	1.4	0.9	2.0	11.8
2001^†	Los Angeles	32	27	29.3	.453	.343	.794	5.3	2.1	1.5	0.9	1.8	10.3
2002^†	Los Angeles	32	25	30.2	.487	.420	.740	6.6	1.4	1.6	1.1	2.9	11.3
2003	Los Angeles	31	30	35.0	.424	.377	.804	7.1	2.1	1.6	1.3	2.5	13.4
2004	Los Angeles	19	19	31.8	.404	.297	.726	4.7	1.6	1.2	0.5	2.5	9.8
2005	Washington	33	30	32.4	.417	.328	.798	5.2	1.8	1.7	0.5	2.2	11.9
2006	Washington	23	20	29.3	.472	.430	.810	4.9	2.1	1.5	0.7	2.9	14.6
2007	Washington	34	34	33.6	.349	.235	.845	6.4	1.6	1.5	1.1	3.5	13.4
2008	Los Angeles	31	31	32.8	.480	.358	.774	6.3	2.4	1.1	0.6	3.0	13.9
2009	Los Angeles	33	33	31.6	.401	.293	.757	4.8	2.2	1.2	0.2	2.2	10.2
2010	Los Angeles	34	34	32.2	.470	.317	.866	4.7	2.5	1.1	0.6	2.8	15.4
2011	Los Angeles	34	34	26.2	.462	.352	.831	4.6	2.0	0.9	0.4	2.4	11.7
2012	Los Angeles	34	34	27.2	.417	.326	.823	4.2	1.8	1.0	0.7	1.8	10.0
2013	San Antonio*	15	15	27.3	.421	.214	.607	4.9	2.0	0.9	0.5	1.7	9.2
2013	New York*	11	2	19.4	.348	.200	.788	3.3	1.7	0.5	0.3	1.5	6.7
2013	Total	26	17	23.9	.398	.208	.705	4.2	1.9	0.7	0.3	1.6	8.2
2014	New York*	19	2	16.8	.404	.200	.714	2.5	1.1	0.4	0.3	1.1	5.7
2014	Atlanta*	2	0	11.5	.286	.500	1.000	1.0	0.0	0.5	1.5	1.5	4.5
2014	Total	21	2	27.2	.417	.326	.823	4.2	1.8	1.0	0.7	1.8	2.1
2015	Atlanta	18	1	8.9	.340	.100	.556	1.8	0.4	0.1	0.7	1.7	2.1
Career	17 years, 5 teams	499	435	28.8	.440	.325	.790	5.2	1.8	1.2	0.7	2.4	11.2

Postseason


Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
1999	Los Angeles	4	4	31.8	.450	.000	.429	5.3	2.5	1.8	1.5	1.2	9.8
2000	Los Angeles	4	4	34.0	.541	.000	.833	5.5	3.0	1.5	0.5	2.5	12.5
2001^†	Los Angeles	7	7	32.3	.547	.375	.684	6.3	2.9	1.0	1.4	1.5	12.3
2002^†	Los Angeles	6	3	34.0	.450	.563	.938	6.8	1.3	1.7	1.5	1.8	13.0
2003	Los Angeles	9	9	37.6	.443	.556	.771	6.3	2.8	1.9	1.4	2.2	14.6
2006	Washington	2	2	34.5	.379	.444	1.000	9.0	2.5	1.5	0.5	3.0	14.0
2008	Los Angeles	6	6	34.3	.407	.357	.733	6.0	1.8	1.3	0.7	2.1	10.7
2009	Los Angeles	6	6	31.7	.351	.308	.625	5.8	2.5	1.7	0.2	2.1	9.0
2010	Los Angeles	2	2	35.5	.360	1.000	.500	8.5	1.0	0.5	0.5	2.5	10.5
2012	Los Angeles	4	4	25.3	.375	.500	.778	3.5	1.8	1.0	0.5	2.2	5.5
Career	10 years, 2 teams	50	47	33.4	.440	.459	.741	6.1	2.3	1.5	1.0	2.1	11.5