January 2003

In October 2002, Marlynn Jones began work at the University of South Carolina as the new Assistant Athletics Director. At South Carolina she is responsible for determining initial eligibility, compliance with NCAA and SEC rules, tracking the development of new legislation, and providing interpretation of new regulations to the coaches. Marlynn and the three full-time employees that she supervises are responsible for all eighteen of South Carolina's varsity sports. She is also involved with the university's very active boosters association.

Because of the legal ramifications surrounding compliance, USC was looking for a candidate with a legal background. It was for this very reason that Marlynn attended law school and she says that she uses her legal skills on a daily basis. "Working with the NCAA and the SEC is a lot like doing legal research. You're trying to find a past case for what you want to do. Rules are fact based, but there are many ways that they can be interpreted. There's rarely a clear yes or no answer."

Before the University of South Carolina, Marlynn worked for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) where her principal responsibility was overseeing compliance with MEAC and NCAA regulations at the conference's eleven schools. Her work also entailed investigating and processing violations and certifying eligibility for the conference championships.

Marlynn was born in Petersburg, Virginia and grew up in Durham, North Carolina. She earned her BA in journalism from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in 1984 and a MS in mass communications from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1987. While in graduate school, she had her first experience in collegiate athletics through an internship in the Athletics Department's Sports Information Office. During the nine years between receiving her MA and starting law school, Marlynn worked for the NCAA, North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University, North Carolina Central University, and the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games.

Marlynn was attracted to Miami because of the vast sports industry in South Florida. "Sports administration is a competitive field and I didn't want to go to a law school where I would disappear professionally for three years. Miami was an easy sell for me. I loved the school and the city. They both offered so many opportunities in all areas of legal practice."

During her first two years in Miami, Marlynn attended law school part-time and worked for the Orange Bowl Committee full-time. While attending law school she also took advantage of opportunities to work as a judicial intern for the United States Bankruptcy Court, a law clerk for a Miami firm, and an intern for the Florida Senate and ArtServ, a Fort Lauderdale-based organization that provides pro bono legal advice to artists in Florida.

In law school, Marlynn was a member of the Black Law Students Association and the honor society, Iron Arrow. She was an ambassador for the Office of Student Recruiting, President of the Entertainment and Sports Law Society, Chair of the Orientation Committee, Editor-in-Chief of the Amicus Curiae yearbook, and a writer for the student newspaper, Res Ipsa Loquitur. The positions with the Orientation Committee and Amicus Curiae paid her a stipend that covered 95% of her tuition during her final year of law school.

1999, her final year at UM, was a rewarding year for Marlynn. In addition to receiving her JD and being admitted to the Florida Bar and the District of Columbia Bar, she was named the National Outstanding Law Student of the Year by Who's Who Among American Law Students. Because her fellow students bestowed it, Marlynn is particularly proud of the Roger Serino Award for the most outstanding third-year law student that she received from the law school's Society of Bar & Gravel.