Where Are They Now? - Marilyn Rule - Florida Atlantic University Athletics

BOCA RATON, Fla. – Former Florida Atlantic University basketball coach Wayne Allen pushed Marilyn Rule to her physical limits in practice. Long after Rule's final season in 1992-93, that experience is still paying dividends.

"If you can get through the tough practices that he ran, I truly believe you can do anything," Rule said. "And that confidence that you gain as a student-athlete will stay with you for the rest of your life. I definitely, truly believe my experience playing at FAU helped me attain that mindset and that mentality."

Rule played two seasons at FAU then graduated in 1993, hoping to share her basketball acumen with the next generation. Coral Springs High School gave her that opportunity. In October of '93, the school named Rule, then only 23 years old, as its girls basketball coach.

The pairing fit perfectly. Rule, who also taught at Coral Springs, elevated the girls basketball team into one of the top programs in the county.

Rule's success drew the attention of Nova Southeastern University, which was looking to start a women's basketball program. NSU needed a coach who could build a winner fast – as Rule did at Coral Springs. Shortly after their interview, in 1998, it was official: NSU named Rule its first women's basketball coach.

Working in college athletics gave Rule the opportunity to "really change people's lives for the better" through education and sports. And she cherished every minute of it.

"When I went to work and came home, I never thought I went to work – I had fun," Rule said. "It was just the type of job you dream of having."

Rule's dream job intensified in 2002-03. That season, NSU transitioned from NAIA to NCAA Division II. Rule wasn't intimidated, though, because she helped FAU transition from DII to DI a decade prior.

"You just have to be patient," said Rule, whose NSU team went 12-15 its first season in Division II. "You've got to be patient; nothing happens overnight. You have to recognize it's a process, and you have to trust the process. And when you do have that way of thinking, good things will happen."

The process took only five years to realize. In 2007-08, Rule led NSU to a 24-7 record and a Sunshine State Conference Tournament championship.

Rule built a program from scratch and turned it into a perennial winner. But in 2011, NSU parted ways with Rule and hired a new women's basketball coach.

"That was a tough pill to swallow," said Rule, who earned a master's degree from NSU while coaching there. "That was hard to overcome because ultimately I put so much of my time – blood, sweat and tears – into building that program, and to kind of have it just be taken away was a difficult time for me. But it also was an opportunity for me to be able to get back on my feet and make things right again and do things the way I know how.

"And, ultimately, like anything, any challenge in life, or any time where things don't go well, if you get knocked down, you get back up," Rule added. "It's not how many times you get knocked down; it's about how many times you get back up. And I was able to get back on my feet and make it even better."

Rule became an assistant athletic director and teacher at her alma mater, J.P. Taravella High School, in September of 2011. As an assistant AD, Rule felt she could "positively impact young lives and stay connected in sports," just in a different way.

Her decade of coaching experience, both at the high school and college level, uniquely qualified her.

"There's so many hats that coaches have to wear, from mopping the floors to washing uniforms," Rule said. "People don't realize how many tasks and things there are. From breaking down film to just checking on your players, making sure they're doing well academically and going to class. There's just so many things and so many aspects, and because I had years of experience, I was able to just kind of pick up and do those things instinctively, without really being told – checking on kids, communicating with them and building relationships and bonds. And that's what it's really, ultimately about."

Rule returned to the bench in 2014, becoming the girls basketball coach at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. And that coaching job was as challenging as her first couple of jobs. Many of Douglas' players transferred prior to her arrival, decimating the roster.

The team won only two games Rule's first season but that didn't dissuade her. She got through Allen's strenuous conditioning tests at FAU, so she knew turning Douglas around was possible.

"Having done that [conditioning], I know I can do anything that is put forward and in front of me," Rule said. "And that's kind of the approach that I've been able to take with every task and every challenge that I've faced, such as building the program from scratch at Nova and turning teams that were struggling into champions. So, I guess, looking back at it now, I definitely can attribute that to my time at FAU."

The 2017-18 season marked the culmination of another successful Rule-led rebuild. Douglas, under her direction, surged to the District 11-9A Championship game. It was set to play in the regional semifinals on Feb. 15, 2018.

But tragedy struck the day before the game. A then-19-year-old former Douglas student returned to campus with a semi-automatic rifle and opened fire, killing 17 and injuring 17 others.

Rule was there. As was her son, Kevin Heinrich. Rule's husband, Coral Springs Police Sgt. Jeff Heinrich, responded to the scene. Her boss, athletic director Chris Hixon, lost his life. One of her players, Maddy Wilford, sustained four gunshot wounds but survived.

The terror permeated Rule's family and work life all at once. She had no choice but to forfeit the game. Still, she kept a positive outlook.

"I've been through tough times in the past," Rule said, "and I will get through this."

Rule left Douglas in August to become an academic advisor at Broward College, a move she described as "a positive step forward for me and my positive healing."

Coaching remains in Rule's plans, but she's enjoying her time away from the game. The break gives her more time with her son, Colton Heinrich, an eighth grader and four-sport athlete; and it allows her to watch Kevin, a freshman pitcher for the University of Arkansas, play more often.

Recovering from the Douglas shooting hasn't been easy for Rule. But she's doing exactly that, relying on the mentality she developed as a FAU student-athlete: "There's nothing I can't overcome; there's nothing I can't get through."

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Where Are They Now? - Marilyn Rule

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Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball versus Florida Memorial on November 4, 2025 at 7 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball at Kennesaw State on November 8, 2025 at 7 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball at Miami on November 13, 2025 at 7 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball at South Alabama on November 20, 2025 at 8 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball versus Florida on November 24, 2025 at 7 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball versus Air Force on November 27, 2025 at 12 p.m.

Florida Atlantic University Athletics

Where Are They Now? - Marilyn Rule

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