College Sports Information Directors of America

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Southern Conference announced the hiring of three new staff members along with the restructuring of duties for another.

Jason Yaman has been hired as the director of media relations while Ben Austin joins the SoCon as the championships/operations assistant and Russell Dorn will fill the role of media relations assistant. Additionally, Jonathan Caskey has been promoted to associate director of media relations.

Yaman joins the Southern Conference after spending the past two seasons as the assistant director of athletics media relations at the University of Maryland. He served as the primary contact for the nationally-recognized Terrapin men's basketball program, including writing and editing all promotional materials and coordinating all media relations efforts for Maryland men's basketball in the nation's fourth-largest media market. Prior to his time at Maryland, Yaman was the assistant athletics director for media relations for three years at Indiana State University and, prior to that, the director of sports information and marketing at Saginaw Valley State University. Yaman received a bachelor's degree from Indiana University in 1997 and a master's from the University of Michigan in 2000. At the Southern Conference, he will coordinate all media relations efforts for the nation's fifth-oldest Division I conference.

Austin is a 2008 graduate of Wofford College where he was a four-year letterwinner for the Terriers' baseball team. Austin was a three-time member of the SoCon Academic Honor Roll, while on the field, he was named to the 2007 SoCon Baseball All-Tournament team after picking up two victories during Wofford's march to the league tournament crown. Austin will assist with the operations of each SoCon championship event while also working in the areas of marketing and compliance.

Dorn, a 2008 graduate of Furman University, served as the sports editor of The Paladin, Furman's student newspaper, as an undergraduate. He also worked as an intern with the Greenville News and the NBA Developmental League while also gaining experience with the Furman Sports Information office. Dorn will be the league's primary media contact for a number of sports as well as the coordinator of the FCS Coaches Poll, which the league office administers.

Beginning his third year with the Southern Conference, Caskey is taking on an enhanced role as the league's associate director of media relations. After serving as the league's public affairs assistant during the 2003-04 season, Caskey returned to the SoCon office in July 2007 as the assistant director of media relations following stints at Appalachian State University and in Delhi, India. He coordinated all media efforts for women's basketball, softball, men's and women's soccer and men's and women's golf during the 2007-08 season and will add responsibilities as the primary football contact for the league in 2008.