ENHANCES TO BASKETBALL OPERATIONS STAFF

Washington Mystics general manager and head coach Mike Thibault announced that Asjha Jones and Chalisa Fonza have been added to the basketball operations staff. In addition, the team has promoted Daniel Villareal to video and analytics coordinator.

A 10-year WNBA veteran, Jones joins Thibault’s staff as player development assistant. She replaces Awvee Storey who will be an assistant coach with the Chicago Sky. In her role, she will assist the coaching staff with the development of players, particularly post players, and will assist with video and game preparations. Jones was selected in the first round (second overall) of the 2002 WNBA draft by the Mystics before spending the majority of her career with the Connecticut Sun.

Fonza returns to the Mystics as athletic trainer, a position she held during the 2005 season. For the last 15 years, she has been the head trainer for the Ohio State University’s women’s basketball team where she served as the liaison between the athletes and the medical staff. Fonza has been on the training staff of Oklahoma State University, Cleveland State and the Cleveland Rockers.

Villarreal returns for his third season and is being promoted to video and analytics coordinator. In this position, he will spearhead the team’s video preparation needs while providing analytics support to the staff.

“Chalisa is one of the top trainers in all of women’s basketball and will be a great addition to our staff,” said Thibault. “Asjha played for me in Connecticut and I’ve always felt that she would be an excellent coach, particularly in helping our post players develop at both ends of the court. She has won championships at the college, WNBA, and Olympic Team level. Daniel was already a valuable member of our staff as the assistant video coordinator and is ready to take over that department for us.”

The WNBA’s Washington Mystics are owned and operated by Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which is one of the largest integrated sports and entertainment companies in the country with one of the most diverse partnership groups in all of sports. The company also owns and operates the NBA’s Washington Wizards, the NHL’s Washington Capitals, the, the AFL’s Washington Valor and Baltimore Brigade, NBA 2K League’s Wizards District Gaming, as well as Capital One Arena, the premier sports and entertainment venue in Washington, D.C. Monumental Sports & Entertainment is also co-owner of aXiomatic, which has controlling interest in global esports franchise Team Liquid, and oversees the management of Kettler Capitals Iceplex–the training facility for the Washington Capitals–and the Eagle Bank arena at George Mason University.