Sept. 23, 2002

Columbia, SC –

Marlynn R. Jones, who is the Assistant Commissioner for Compliance and External Affairs for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), has been named Assistant Athletics Director for NCAA Compliance at the University of South Carolina. Jones replaces Craig Curry who assumed the Athletics Director post at Arkansas-Pine Bluff last month.

Jones brings a solid and varied background in law and college athletics to her new position at Carolina. She received her law degree from the University of Miami (Fla.) and was named the 1999 National Outstanding Law Student of the Year. While at Miami, she was President of the Entertainment and Sports Law Society and Editor-in-Chief of the Law Yearbook. While she was taking law courses, Jones also worked with the Orange Bowl Committee for two years. Jones was admitted to the Florida and District of Columbia Bar in 2000 and is a certified mediator in the state of Florida.

A native of Petersburg, Va., Jones grew up in Durham, N.C. She has previous experience working at the NCAA, where she was advertising manager for The NCAA News for four years. Jones also served as the Interim Director of Scholarship Administration at North Carolina Central University for two years and was Assistant Athletics Director for Development at North Carolina A&T for two years. Jones received her undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina in 1984 and her master’s degree from Virginia Commonwealth in 1987.

“Given the legal ramifications in compliance, we were looking for candidates who had a strong legal background and Marlynn certainly has that,” said Mike McGee, USC Director of Athletics. “She comes to Carolina with an impressive array of experience and is well regarded by the NCAA staff she worked with while serving in the MEAC. The NCAA had indicated that during her tenure with the MEAC, the conference had made significant progress with its compliance programs and had operated in a very effective manner under her watch. We look forward to having her join the Carolina program.”

“I believe South Carolina is a program on the rise and has outstanding leadership with Dr. McGee,” said Jones. “This presents a terrific opportunity for me to return to a college campus and hopefully make a positive impact for South Carolina athletics. South Carolina is a great situation and I look forward to working alongside an outstanding group of professionals.”