DeLisha Milton-Jones

Delisha Milton-Jones

DeLisha Milton-Jones at the 2007 WNBA All-Star game.
No. 21, 8 – San Antonio Silver Stars
Position	Forward
League	WNBA
Personal information
Born	(1974-09-11) September 11, 1974 Riceboro, Georgia
Nationality	United States
Listed height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Listed weight	185 lb (84 kg)
Career information
High school	Bradwell Institute
College	University of Florida
NBA draft	1999 / Round: Supplemental / Pick: 4th overall
Selected by the Los Angeles Sparks
Pro playing career	1999–present
Career history
1999–2004	Los Angeles Sparks
2005–2007	Washington Mystics
2008–2012	Los Angeles Sparks
2013–present	San Antonio Silver Stars
Career highlights and awards
First-team All-SEC (1996, 1997) First-team All-American (1997) SEC Player of the Year (1997) Wade Trophy (1997) University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame 3× WNBA All-Star (2000, 2004, 2007) 2× WNBA Champion (2001, 2002)
Medals Women's Basketball Competitor for  United States Olympic Games Gold Sydney 2000 National team Gold Beijing 2008 National team FIBA World Championship Gold 1998 Germany National Team Gold 2002 China National Team Bronze 2006 Brazil National Team

DeLisha Milton-Jones (born September 11, 1974), née DeLisha Milton, is an American professional basketball player for the San Antonio Silver Stars of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Milton-Jones played college basketball for the University of Florida. In her fourteen-season WNBA career, she has played for the Washington Mystics and the Los Angeles Sparks (twice). She is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and a two-time WNBA champion, and has been selected to the WNBA All-Star Game three times.

Early years

Milton-Jones was born 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.

College career

Milton-Jones received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where she played for the Florida Gators women's basketball team from 1993 to 1997. She was a four-year letterman, and led the Lady Gators to four NCAA Tournament appearances. As a senior in 1996–1997, 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, 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.^[2][3]

Professional career

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,^[4] as well as the U.S. women's teams that won world championships in 1998 and 2002.

In the WNBA, she played for the Los Angeles Sparks from 1999 to 2004. She was traded to the Washington Mystics in exchange for Chamique Holdsclaw and a first-round draft pick in the 2004 off-season. In 2003, she won the Euroleague Championship with team Ekaterinburg in Russia. In the 2005–2006 season, she won the Euroleague with Gambrinus Brno of the Czech Republic and for the season 2006–2007 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.^[5] for whom she also played during the 2007-08 off-season.^[6]

She is a two-time WNBA champion and has been selected to the WNBA All Star Game multiple times. In her WNBA career, she has scored 3,944 career points (16th all-time). On April 22, 2008, Milton-Jones was reacquired by the Los Angeles Sparks in a trade for Taj McWilliams-Franklin.^[7]

She currently plays for the San Antonio Silver Stars of the WNBA.

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.

She appeared in the 2000 movie Love and Basketball as Delisha Milton. In her free time, she likes to relax by cooking, cleaning and playing tennis.

Europe

• 2001-2002: Lavezzini Basket Parma
• 2002-2004: UMMC Ekaterinburg
• 2007-2009: Ros Casares Valencia

Awards and honors

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

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

• Florida Gators
• List of Florida Gators basketball players
• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists
• List of Olympic medalists in basketball
• List of University of Florida alumni
• List of University of Florida Olympians

References

External links

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