New JSCC AD lays out vision for department

Kevin Lynum was prepared for Tuesday’s press conference, his first with local media from Jackson.

Lynum has been on the job for a couple weeks now as the athletic director at Jackson State Community College.

He’s been an assistant coach at Norfolk State and Winthrop University. Before that, he was a paratrooper in the United States Army for eight years among other roles in special operations.

“I’m so excited to be here with Jackson State Community College,” said Bynum, who also was a coach and administrator in Florida high school athletics. “I’ve been preparing for a while for a role like this, and I’m appreciative of [JSCC President Carol Rothstein] and the administration for trusting me with this role.”

Lynum’s conversation with local media members centered on a couple of things that shows his and the new administration’s intent on reshaping Green Jay sports.

The first is how the softball and baseball facilities are about to receive a facelift.

“We’re still in the design phases of that planning, but we’re going to make the facilities here top-notch to show the student-athletes here that we expect Jackson State to compete for championships in Tennessee, Region VII and the NJCAA,” Lynum said. “We want our athletes and coaches to be second-to-none, and it’s only fair that the facilities we ask them to play and practice in be second-to-none as well.”

Lynum was asked, and he said there will be presentations to the greater JSCC community and alumni base about helping fund those renovations.

The other big item that was mentioned is the plan to expand JSCC’s sports offerings.

The school currently has four sports programs – men’s and women’s basketball, baseball and softball.

“We’ve got a gym that can house more sports, and you see all the open field areas we have here on campus,” Lynum said. “We’ve got plenty of room to expand, and we’re having those discussions.

“You can expect some announcements soon regarding that.”

Lynum said he hopes to host a similar press conference at the end of the fall semester to have a similar conversation with the local media after he’s been on the job for six months.

“As excited as I am about this conversation, if we can plan on having that conversation in December, I think I’d be even more excited about that,” Lynum said. “Because I’m excited about the vision the administration and I have for JSCC athletics and where we’ll begin to go before this year is over.”

Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news