The U.S. women’s national basketball team kicks off their campaign for an eighth-consecutive Olympic gold medal July 29 when they face Japan.
Old Dominion University women’s basketball coach DeLisha Milton-Jones was part of the 2000 and 2008 Olympic gold medal teams that contributed to Team USA’s dominant run. She is also a 2022 Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, a two-time WNBA champion and a three-time WNBA All-Star.
This year, she served on the Olympic committee to select the players for Team USA.
ODU News talked with Milton-Jones about her experience as an Olympic athlete, how it has prepared her as a coach and what it’s like to be a part of Team USA’s continued goals.
ODU News: You recently traveled to Washington, D.C. to give a talk about your Olympic experience. What did you share with the audience?
Milton-Jones: I let one medal be passed around the room, and everyone was so enamored with it, and I had to remind them that while we are celebrating the goal, there is a story that people usually overlook. And that story is the sacrifice, the pain, the missed birthdays, the missed deaths, the missed family functions, all the things that people have to give up to achieve this and call themselves a winner. That gets overlooked sometimes in the story because they just see the athlete and the benefits that they reap from the work.
ODU News: Take us back to the year 2000 and being selected for Team USA.
Coach Milton-Jones: To know that I was going to be a part of something that big and so special, I think it was the proudest moment I had ever achieved in my life from a basketball perspective. Being one of the 12 best to represent the United States of America in the Olympics – that says it all in a nutshell.
ODU News: Eight years later, you were selected again to compete in the Beijing Olympics. How was that experience different?
Coach Milton-Jones: To be able to get back on the court period was a huge mountain that I had to climb. I made the team in 2004 – for the team that went to Greece – but I tore my ACL shortly prior to us leaving for competition. That was probably one of the darkest moments of my entire professional career. I felt like I was in my groove and it was heartbreaking for me to have to watch the Olympic Games on TV with my leg in an immobilizer and I was sitting there helpless. I was depressed and didn’t really understand at that time what I was going through. It took my husband, being the great guy that he is. One day he came in and just pulled the shades up and said, ‘Enough is enough. You’re gonna change your perspective, and instead of sitting here and being upset at the girl who’s wearing your number, like any elite athlete, pick yourself up, work your butt off to get back.’ And that’s what I was on a quest to do. To go to Beijing was a huge ceremony of joy for me, knowing that I fought through the depths of depression and what is sometimes a career-ending injury to make the team.
ODU News: You were able to bring home the gold twice and I’m sure that was an amazing feeling. What was it like to be onstage to accept those medals?
Coach Milton-Jones: First of all, when the final buzzer sounds that moment is surreal. But man, when it’s time to get onstage at the podium … Nothing can ever compare to grabbing hands and locking arms with your teammates and you hear your nation’s song playing. It’s almost like you’re in this zone where you hear everything but it’s also still quiet. Everything is going a million miles per hour but then it’s in slow motion. I think at that moment you realize you’ve dedicated four years of your life to this one moment. For the 40-minute game, for this result … everything just comes crashing down on you and you feel the weight of all the sacrifices. You feel the weight of every practice and you just release it all and it usually comes in the form of a smile that is permanently stuck on your face or it’s the waterworks.
"To know that I was going to be a part of something that big and so special, I think it was the proudest moment I had ever achieved in my life from a basketball perspective," said DeLisha Milton-Jones, coach for the ODU women's basketball team.
ODU News: How has your experience as an Olympic athlete and a WNBA player helped you as a coach? What do you share with your players?
Coach Milton-Jones: I speak about moments that will be a motivating factor for them because my experiences aren’t mine alone. Although I may not have the years of service that a lot of other coaches do, I feel like I graduated summa cum laude in the game of basketball because of the experiences that I have had at an elite level. So I use it as a teaching tool and a motivating tool when I’m speaking to my players from a business perspective – and how it can move the needle for you – and I use my experiences on the court to help shape their mindset and our culture and attach it to the standards that we have on a daily basis.
ODU News: How did it feel to be asked to help select Team USA this year and be a part of the Olympic legacy?
Coach Milton-Jones: I thought it was pretty cool knowing that it has come full circle. Not only did I play in it, not only am I vying to be a coach on that level, but I also get to sit on a committee that has a voice in terms of how we build the team. I think it’s a once-in-a- lifetime opportunity and I’m glad that they welcomed me.
ODU News: Team USA is hoping to win an eighth-consecutive gold medal. How do you feel about their chances and are there any countries you think will be a particular challenge for them?
Coach Milton-Jones: I think any country is going to be a challenge if we play defense like we did the other night against the WNBA All-Star team. I thought it was the right test that our Olympians needed. It proved that the whole world is watching, and if you think you’re just gonna go to Paris and walk away with the medal without putting up a fight, you have another thing coming. So, I think they will fare well, but they will fare well only as good as their defense is. We definitely saw there were some holes in that area, but I know Cheryl Reeves is a tough coach, she’s smart and is good at what she does. We have complete faith that they’ll get it together.