Asjha Takera Jones (born August 1, 1980) is a former American professional

women's basketball Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It was first played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large parts via women's college compet ...

power forward and coach who is now on the staff of the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (N ...

in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA). In 2019, she became the first person to win a WNBA title as both a player and a coach. Jones is one of 11 women to receive an Olympic gold medal, an NCAA Championship, a Fiba World cup gold and a WNBA Championship.

Early years

At the age of three, Jones began playing basketball in a local park. Born in

Piscataway, New Jersey Piscataway ( ) is a Township (New Jersey), township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a suburb of the New York metropolitan area, in the Raritan River, Raritan Valley. As of the 2020 United ...

, she began playing AAU ball at the age of eleven, but she was playing neighborhood ball before then. She tried to interest the girls in playing, but couldn't convince them, so she played basketball with the boys. By the age of twelve, she reached her adult height, so she was taller than most of her teammates, boys and girls. Her shoe matched her age for a time, until she peaked out at size 13. She started going to basketball camps at an early age, including one at Rutgers while she was in fifth grade. When she was in eighth grade, she was good enough to win the MVP of her summer league, despite playing with high school age participants.

High school and AAU

Jones attended

Piscataway High School Piscataway High School is a four-year comprehensive community public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Piscataway in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as the lone secondary school of ...

, where she set the school record of points and rebounds with 2,266 and 1,256 respectively. As a senior, Jones played on the high school team that went to the stale finals. In the semi-final game against the Shawnee Renegades, the opposing team knew they had to contain Jones. While they were successful in limiting her shots from the field (Jones was 3 for 18), they could not stop her rebounding or free throw shooting. Jones had 15 rebounds and hit 6 of 7 free throws to help lead the Piscataway team past Shawnee and on to the finals. In high school, she was a

McDonald's All-American McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American multinational fast food chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese chain Mixue Ice Cream & Tea. Brothers ...

and The Star-Ledger New Jersey Girls Basketball Player of the Year, earning her a scholarship to the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

. Jones was named a WBCA All-American. She participated in the WBCA High School All-America Game, where she scored seven points. Jones came to the attention of a local AAU coach, Rich Leary, when she was a freshman in high school. At the time, there was an AAU team for boys, but not one for girls. So initially, she played with the boys. Leary formed a girls team, the Demons, with Jones as the centerpiece. By the time she was a junior, the Demons won the under-18 state tournament and advanced as far as the national AAU finals. The following year, Jones averaged 30 points a game and lead the team to the national tournament again.

College

Jones was highly recruited around the country. As a high school star in Piscataway, the home of

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

, it was natural that Rutgers would be interested in persuading Jones to join their team. Recruiting of top athletes is a multi-year process, often starting before players enter high school. When Jones was a freshman at Piscataway, the Rutgers head coach was Theresa Grentz, a highly regarded coach who had served as the Olympic Coach in 1992. However, Grentz moved to

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

in 1995, and future

Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...

coach C. Vivian Stringer became the head coach of Rutgers. Although Rutgers continued to pursue Jones, along with many other schools, Jones decided she would prefer to play somewhere other than home. Jones accepted a scholarship offer from

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, and became one of a highly heralded recruiting class, including

Sue Bird Suzanne Brigit Bird (born October 16, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who played her entire career with the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Bird was drafted first overall pick by t ...

, Tamika Williams,

Swin Cash Swintayla Marie Cash Canal (born September 22, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player. She played in college for the University of Connecticut and professionally for 15 years in the Women's National Basketball Association (WN ...

, and Keirsten Walters. While at UConn she played in every game since her sophomore season (144) breaking the UConn record for all-time games played (138) by Carla Berube (since broken by Ashley Battle), and helped lead her team, known as the ''Huskies'', to two

NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship The NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, sometimes referred to as Women's March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 women's college basketball teams from the Div ...

s in 2000 and 2002. In the Big East Championship title game in 2002, the UConn team came to the game having won its first 32 games of the season. The opponent, Boston College, had a record of 23–6, and was ranked 17th in the nation. The game was never close. UConn scored four seconds into the game, hit their first six shots and ten of their first eleven. The final margin of victory was 42 points, breaking the tournament record of 36. The Tournament MVP honors were awarded to Jones, who scored 19 points and had 11 rebounds. That year, the UConn team would finish the season undefeated. The team was dominant enough to prompt Sports Illustrated to call UConn "one of the best in history" before the final game of the season was played. Although the national championship game was against Oklahoma, the semi-final was against long-time rival Tennessee. SI's Richard Deitsch called Jones "the best player on the floor against Tennessee". Sports Illustrated did a series of thirteen photographs featuring players and team member of teams chasing or achieving perfect seasons—an entire season without a loss. The photograph of the 2002 team including Asjha Jones is one of the photos in the collection.

Professional career

International

In the 2005–06 off-season she played in

Novosibirsk Novosibirsk is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and the Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 1,633,595, making it the most populous city in Siber ...

for the Russian Basketball Federation Superleague. After playing for

UMMC Ekaterinburg BC Ekaterinburg () is a Russian professional women's basketball team based in Yekaterinburg competing in the Russian Premier League, and until February 2022 in FIBA Europe's EuroLeague Women. Founded in 1938 as Zenit Sverdlovsk, the club had its ...

in Russia during several years, she joined

Rivas Ecópolis Baloncesto Rivas CDE, commonly known as Rivas Ecópolis due to sponsorship reasons, is a Spanish professional women's basketball team based in Rivas-Vaciamadrid, Community of Madrid. History Baloncesto Rivas was founded in 1988 as CD Covíbar but ...

in the 2011–12 off-season, where she played the Final game of the EuroLeague Women 2011–12.

WNBA

Jones was selected in the first round (4th overall pick) by the

Washington Mystics The Washington Mystics are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Mystics compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference. The team was ...

in the 2002

WNBA draft The WNBA draft is an annual draft (sports), draft held by the Women's National Basketball Association, WNBA through which WNBA teams can select new players from a talent pool of college and List of WNBA players, professional women's basketball p ...

. The third pick by the Mystics was Stacey Dales, who said about Jones, ""Ashja Jones is one of the toughest players I've ever come up against," Dales-Schuman said. "Her physical nature, her stature, her mentality of the game, she's an exceptional player, and I see her as being a tremendous professional athlete." After spending two seasons with the Mystics, Jones was traded to the

Connecticut Sun The Connecticut Sun are an American professional basketball team based in Uncasville, Connecticut. The Sun compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference. The team i ...

in a three-team deal that sent Tamicha Jackson from the

Phoenix Mercury The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Mercury compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. One of eight original franchises, it wa ...

to the

and the Sun sent the 8th pick in the 2004

to the Mercury. In 2009, Jones was the leading scorer for the Sun team, with 16.7 points per game. Unfortunately, she strained her left Achilles tendon, and had to miss the final eleven games of the season. She underwent surgery in the following February. She didn't fully recover during the 2010 season, but still managed to average double-digit scoring. Jones decided to take a break, and decided not to play in the European league during the winter. The break helped her heal for the 2011 season, where she is the third leading scorer at just over 13 points per game. Her coach,

Mike Thibault Michael Francis Thibault (born September 28, 1950) is an American basketball head coach and basketball general manager. He is the head coach of the Belgium, Belgian women's national basketball team Belgian Cats since 2025. Before he coached the C ...

, says "I want a championship for Asjha as much as I want it for anybody...She's one of my favorite players I've ever coached, because of the way she approaches her job every single day." On May 13, 2015, the

traded Jones to the

Minnesota Lynx The Minnesota Lynx are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Lynx compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference (WNBA), Western Conference. The team won the WNBA ...

in exchange for a second round pick in the 2016 WNBA draft. When the Lynx won the 2015 WNBA title, Jones became one of 11 women to receive an Olympic gold medal, an NCAA Championship, and a WNBA Championship. The others are

Ruth Riley Ruth Ellen Riley Hunter (born August 28, 1979) is a retired American professional basketball player (a center), playing most recently for the Atlanta Dream in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Her Notre Dame team won the NCAA ...

Sheryl Swoopes Sheryl Denise Swoopes (born March 25, 1971) is an American former professional basketball player. She was the first player to be signed in the WNBA, is a three-time WNBA MVP, and was named one of the league's Top 15 Players of All Time at the 2 ...

Cynthia Cooper-Dyke Cynthia Lynne Cooper-Dyke (born April 14, 1963) is an American basketball coach and former player who has won championships in college, in the Basketball at the Summer Olympics, Olympics, and in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA ...

Tamika Catchings Tamika Devonne Catchings (born July 21, 1979) is an American retired professional basketball player who played her entire 15-year career for the Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Widely considered as one of the ...

, and fellow Huskies

Kara Wolters Kara Elizabeth Wolters (born August 15, 1975) is an American former collegiate and professional basketball player and a current sports broadcaster. Standing at and nicknamed "Big Girl," she is the tallest player in University of Connecticut wome ...

Diana Taurasi Diana Lorena Taurasi (born June 11, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) for 20 seasons, spending her entire career with the Phoenix Mercury. Taurasi is widely ...

, and

Maya Moore Maya April Moore (born June 11, 1989) is an American social justice advocate and former professional basketball player. Naming her their inaugural Performer of the Year in 2017, ''Sports Illustrated'' called Moore the "greatest winner in the hist ...

. In 2018, Jones was hired as a player development coach by the

, and was part of the staff on the 2019 championship team. On December 3, 2019, Jones was promoted to assistant coach for the Mystics.

NBA

On April 25, 2021, it was announced that Jones would join the

as their Director of Basketball Strategy and Planning, a front office position.

WNBA career statistics

Regular season

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2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

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Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, 32 , , 5 , , 19.1 , , .399 , , .200 , , .606 , , 2.8 , , 0.9 , , 0.4 , , 0.5 , , 1.2 , , 6.5 , - , align="left" ,

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

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, 34 , , 10 , , 22.0 , , .434 , , .412 , , .745 , , 4.0 , , 1.5 , , 0.5 , , 0.7 , , 1.9 , , 8.5 , - , align="left" ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

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, 34 , , 1 , , 20.6 , , .402 , , .333 , , .854 , , 3.5 , , 1.1 , , 0.6 , , 0.5 , , 1.6 , , 6.9 , - , align="left" ,

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

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, 33 , , 4 , , 21.4 , , .484 , , .400 , , .589 , , 3.7 , , 1.2 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 1.5 , , 9.1 , - , align="left" ,

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

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, 34 , , 2 , , 22.9 , , .464 , , .263 , , .785 , , 5.4 , , 1.4 , , 0.7 , , 0.6 , , 1.8 , , 11.1 , - , align="left" ,

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

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, 30 , , 30 , , 31.4 , , .449 , , .083 , , .766 , , 6.1 , , 2.5 , , 0.8 , , 0.8 , , 3.0 , , 15.3 , - , align="left" ,

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

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, 33 , , 33 , , 29.2 , , .484 , , .217 , , .791 , , 6.1 , , 2.5 , , 0.6 , , 0.8 , , 2.2 , , 17.0 , - , align="left" ,

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

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, 23 , , 23 , , 31.6 , , .469 , , .313 , , .763 , , 5.9 , , 2.4 , , 0.9 , , 0.6 , , 2.1 , , 16.7 , - , align="left" ,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

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, 30 , , 29 , , 25.8 , , .448 , , .300 , , .848 , , 4.9 , , 2.2 , , 0.4 , , 0.4 , , 1.8 , , 10.8 , - , align="left" ,

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

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, 34 , , 34 , , 28.6 , , .444 , , .300 , , .711 , , 6.4 , , 1.9 , , 0.6 , , 0.5 , , 1.9 , , 13.3 , - , align="left" ,

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

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, 20 , , 19 , , 27.9 , , .445 , , .333 , , .897 , , 7.1 , , 2.0 , , 1.0 , , 0.6 , , 2.6 , , 12.2 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;",

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

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Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, 31 , , 12 , , 17.5 , , .411 , , .000 , , .600 , , 2.8 , , 1.6 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 1.1 , , 5.5 , - , align="left" , Career , align="left" , 12 years, 3 teams , 368 , , 202 , , 24.5 , , .449 , , .273 , , .756 , , 4.8 , , 1.7 , , 0.6 , , 0.6 , , 1.9 , , 10.9

Playoffs

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, 5 , , 0 , , 12.6 , , .421 , , .500 , , .500 , , 1.6 , , 0.6 , , 0.0 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 3.6 , - , align="left" ,

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, 3 , , 3 , , 32.7 , , .362 , , .000 , , .917 , , 7.3 , , 1.3 , , 0.7 , , 0.3 , , 2.3 , , 15.0 , - , align="left" ,

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USA Basketball

Jones was invited to the USA Basketball Women's National Team training camp in the fall of 2009. The team selected to play for the 2010 FIBA World Championship and the 2012 Olympics is usually chosen from these participants. At the conclusion of the training camp, the team will travel to Ekaterinburg, Russia, where they compete in the 2009 UMMC Ekaterinburg International Invitational. Jones was initially selected as one of the twenty players in the national team pool, from which the twelve members of the USA National team would be selected. Jones had to do something she had never done in her life—try out for a team. She chuckled as she explained, "None of us have ever had to try out for a basketball team in our life...It's a new experience having to try out and worry if they like you." She made the team, and played in the 2010 World Championships in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. The team was coached by

Geno Auriemma Luigi "Geno" Auriemma (born March 23, 1954) is an American basketball coach who is the head coach of the University of Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team. He holds the NCAA basketball records for wins and winning percentage with a mi ...

who was Jones' college coach. The team was dominant, winning all nine games with an average margin of victory over 35 points. Jones averaged just over five points per games, on 57.9% shooting from the field. Jones was one of 21 finalists for the 2012 U.S. Women's Olympic Basketball Team Roster. The 20 professional women's basketball players, plus one collegiate player (

Brittney Griner Brittney Yvette Griner (; born October 18, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is a three-time Olympic gold medalist with the U.S. women's natio ...

), were selected by the USA Basketball Women's National Team Player Selection Committee to compete for the final roster which will represent the US at the 2012 Olympics in London. On April 23, 2012 Jones was the final member of the 12-player USA team to be selected. She was part of the US team that won the gold medal.

Awards and honors

* 1998 WBCA All-American. * 2002 AP Third Team All-American * Selected to 2002 NCAA Final Four and Mideast Region All-Tournament Teams * 2002

Big East women's basketball tournament The Big East women's basketball tournament is a conference championship tournament in women's basketball. It was first held in 1983, at the end of the 1982–83 college basketball season that was the first in which the Big East Conference sponso ...

Most Outstanding Player * Member of 2002 All-BIG East First Team Selection * 2001 Big East Tournament All Tournament Team * Selected to 2000 NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team * 1999 BIG East All-Tournament Team * 1999 All-BIG East Rookie Team * 2009 WNBA All-Star Selection * EuroLeague Women Final Eight 2012 MVP

College statistics

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Asjha 1980 births Living people Abdullah Gül Üniversitesi basketball players All-American college women's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in China American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Russia American expatriate basketball people in Slovakia American expatriate basketball people in Spain American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American women's basketball players Basketball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Middlesex County, New Jersey Centers (basketball) Connecticut Sun players Jiangsu Phoenix players LGBTQ basketball players LGBTQ people from New Jersey American lesbian sportswomen Minnesota Lynx players Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball Parade High School All-Americans (girls' basketball) Sportspeople from Piscataway, New Jersey Piscataway High School alumni UConn Huskies women's basketball players Washington Mystics players WNBA All-Stars United States women's national basketball team players 21st-century American sportswomen

Early years

High school and AAU

College

Professional career

International

WNBA

NBA

WNBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

USA Basketball

Awards and honors

College statistics

See also

References

External links