NORFOLK, Va. – Her most recent gold medal sits on her desk at the Mitchum Basketball Performance Center, but Old Dominion women's basketball head coach DeLisha Milton-Jones realizes she's got to find a better place to showcase her collection of hardware.
An assistant coach on the United States U-19 team that edged Spain on Sunday, July 23, in Madrid to win the World Cup, she came home the next day with her seventh gold medal of her career as a player and coach.
She coached on the USA U-18 team last summer that also won a gold medal, which came shortly after she was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.
She won Olympic gold medals in 2000 and 2008, World Cup gold medals in 1998 and 2002 and a World University gold medal in 1997 as a player.
That's a lot of swag. Isn't it time to put all seven gold medals in a trophy case in her office so that recruits know when they come to ODU, they will play for a coach who knows how to win?
"I haven't thought about that," Milton-Jones said. "But I know I should. I need to be more intentional about celebrating all the good things that have happened to me."
Milton-Jones won the Wade Trophy as a senior at Florida, was a three-time WNBA all-star and two-time WNBA champion who won a European championship while playing in Russia. She has a 59-33 record in three seasons at ODU and led the Monarchs to the Sun Belt semifinals last season.
Speaking at Sun Belt Football Media Days in New Orleans, Commissioner Keith Gill said Milton-Jones' impressive resume is good for Sun Belt women's basketball.
"I certainly was aware of how accomplished she has been," Gill said. "Being an assistant coach with USA Basketball, and at ODU, she's had a great run, she's done a great job.
"We're really lucky to have her and the visibility she brings to women's basketball, which is an area in which we want to be better. Certainly, someone of her stature can help us do that."
Milton-Jones was worn out by her three weeks in Spain, especially since she was grieving the loss of her good friend and former ODU head coach Nikki McCray-Penson, who died in early July after a long struggle with cancer.
Yet there was no rest for the weary. Thursday afternoon she boarded a flight for Memphis, where she will spend nearly a week scouting undergraduate prospects at a high school summer camp.
She said the entire American coaching staff and every player knew nothing less than gold would suffice.
"There was a lot of pressure," she said. "Everyone knows that we didn't go to Spain for anything other than gold. Anything less than gold is a failure for a U.S. team.
"It was difficult. There was no down time. When we weren't practicing or playing, the assistant coaches were scouting.
"And it was hard being away from our players here. We have so many newcomers and I was away from them for so long.
"But it's a sacrifice I'm definitely willing to make. It helps put our program in a national limelight."
She was in familiar territory in Madrid. As a player, she spent her summers in the WNBA and played in Europe during the winter.
She spent 16 seasons in Europe, including several in Valencia, Spain. A number of her former teammates traveled to Madrid to reunite with her and to lift her spirits.
Milton-Jones was devastated by McCray's death. She said she often cried while alone and that she felt McCray's presence in the championship game, in which the Americans rallied to win.
"It was so good to see my old teammates," she said. "They did their best to lift me up."
Milton-Jones, McCray and Dawn Staley, now head coach at South Carolina, all won an Olympic Gold Medal together in 2000 and had been close ever since.
After speaking at McCray's funeral, Staley came to Madrid in part to support one of her players, American forward Chloe Kitts, but also to be with Milton-Jones.
"Dawn is such a tremendous person," Milton-Jones said. "She was there to be with one of her players, but she checked on me every day, making sure I was OK and that I was locked in.
"Seeing her there was such a huge comfort for me. We shared our moments with Nikki.
"It was great to be in that environment. Having Dawn there made it even more special."
Contact Minium at hminium@odu.edu or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram
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Minium: With Seven Gold Medals, it May Be Time for ODU's DeLisha Milton-Jones to Buy a Trophy Case
