DeLisha Milton-Jones

Milton-Jones was born DeLisha Lachell Milton in Riceboro, Georgia in 1974. According to a DNA analysis, she descended, mainly, from Yoruba people and Hausa people of Nigeria.[1] 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.[2]

Milton-Jones was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 2007.[3][4]

Milton-Jones represented the USA 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.[6]

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.[7]

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,[8] as well as the U.S. women's teams that won world championships in 1998 and 2002.

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.

Milton-Jones appeared in the 2000 movie Love and Basketball as Delisha Milton. In 2003, Milton-Jones married Roland Jones.[16]

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

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

• 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

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