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 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.

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 began her professional career in 1997 with the Portland Power, who drafted her second overall in the American Basketball League (ABL).

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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).

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.

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.

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

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