Michigan State On Verge of Losing AD J Batt to Kentucky
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Another shakeup at the very top of Michigan State athletics might be coming.
Sources close to the situation have confirmed that MSU athletic director J Batt is the main target of Kentucky's search for its own new athletic director. ESPN's Pete Thamel reported it first. A move for Batt is not a done deal, but the Wildcats are very determined to pry Batt away from MSU.
Why Move is Happening
Batt's potential move comes not long after the announced future departure of Michigan State University president Kevin Guskiewicz, the person who hired Batt a little more than a calendar year ago. Guskiewicz is still technically serving in his role in East Lansing, but Clemson has already announced that he'll be the next president there in the near future.
Guskiewicz's departure will trigger a clause in Batt's contract that is making it much, much easier for him to leave MSU and find another job. Batt's previous buyout was $5 million while Guskiewicz was in charge. Since Guskiewicz is leaving, Batt's contract stipulates that the buyout gets cut in half to $2.5 million.
Paying up an additional $5 million for a new athletic director would be very ambitious. Doing it for $2.5 million? Not so much. Michigan State shelled out $2 million to pay out Batt's previous buyout clause with Georgia Tech.
Batt has also positioned himself very well to be a candidate by simply doing his job very well. More money than ever is pouring into college sports, and fundraising is the thing Batt is best at. Batt and the Spartans announced a $401 million donation from Acrisure CEO Greg Williams back in December.
Empty Seats at the Top
Batt going to Kentucky would then leave the president's and athletic director's respective seats vacant at Michigan State. That's a pretty tough pill to swallow when MSU has just hired a new football coach in Pat Fitzgerald and is saddled with a price tag of about $30 million to pay off the old, fired head coach.
Since there is no president to lead the search, it might end up being a very long time before a new permanent athletic director emerges. Tom Izzo and Deputy AD Jennifer Smith shared interim athletic director duties when Alan Haller was fired last year.
It's just a messy, messy time, to be frank. "Alignment" was a word that Batt and Guskiewicz used when introducing Fitzgerald this past December. It seemed like Michigan State had finally figured something out by having the president, AD, and football coach on the same page.
Fitzgerald hasn't even coached a football game for MSU yet. It seems like his president and AD might both be gone by the time he does.
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A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
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