MSU Set to Keep President Kevin Guskiewicz in Huge Reversal

Michigan State's president is not going anywhere, after all.

A source has confirmed to Spartan Nation that MSU will be holding onto president Kevin Guskiewicz, who had previously announced a move to Clemson University in late May. Justin Thind of 247Sports officially reported the news first.

Immediate Thoughts, Reaction

To describe this move as "huge" for Michigan State would be an understatement. The school has had a bit of a revolving door at president in recent years, and the need for a permanent option at the top of the university only became more needed when athletic director J Batt announced he was taking the same job at Kentucky.

Guskiewicz had some serious friction with a few members of the Board of Trustees that caused his initial exit, but it seems he's gotten enough reassurances from people around the school to decide to remain in East Lansing.

This is also Christmas in July for Tom Izzo. He gave Guskiewicz a glowing review when he spoke shortly after Batt's announced departure, saying that the school was losing (at the time), "the best president who may have ever been here before."

As somebody who was a student at Michigan State during Guskiewicz's tenure as well, he seemed pretty well-regarded around campus. I didn't conduct any sort of poll or anything, but this feels like it's also a win for the overall student body, as well.

What is also interesting is that Guskiewicz's extension with the school will reportedly be worth only about $1 million a year. That's well beneath the $2 million salary the Board of Trustees offered him in an effort to keep him away from Clemson back in May.

What About J Batt?

This also certainly makes the situation a bit awkward if you're J Batt. He probably doesn't even consider leaving for Kentucky so soon if Guskiewicz hadn't initially taken the job at Clemson. Now, Guskiewicz is back, and a source has also confirmed to Spartan Nation that Batt won't return with him.

Really, the most important thing to remember here is Batt's buyout. He was still hovering around East Lansing, waiting for Guskiewicz to leave so that he could save Kentucky some money. Batt's contract had a clause that would cut his buyout in half in the event Guskiewicz left. Since that never officially happened, Kentucky is set to owe MSU $5 million.

So, there definitely will be a new athletic director soon at Michigan State. This is partially what makes keeping Guskiewicz so big: if he had left for Clemson after Batt's departure, MSU would've likely had to keep someone on an interim basis as athletic director for months or maybe even a year or so as it sought out a new president.

The options for Guskiewicz and the Board are wide open now. If there is an internal option, it would likely be Jon Palumbo, the CEO of the just-launched Spartan Ventures. Guskiewicz can certainly look around for external options, with Western Michigan AD Dan Bartholomae being a name that got brought up a lot by fans and media after Batt's departure.

Those were just initial thoughts, though, and that was with the idea that it would be an extended period of time before a new athletic director was in. That is no longer the case.

What should also be remembered is that Guskiewicz is known to be a great fundraiser, too. That's the big selling point for Batt, who got a large amount of the credit for Greg Williams' $401 million gift to Michigan State, but plenty of that had to do with the Williamses' relationship with Izzo, and Guskiewicz is still a big piece of the puzzle.

"We're raising more money than we ever thought to raise," Izzo said about Guskiewicz's fundraising ability. "He's out more than anybody I've ever seen. He's got a warm and fuzzy [personality]. People trust him. They trust him. He shakes your hand, he looks you in the eye. He was a freaking trainer, and he became an Einstein president. Doesn't that tell you it all?"

Final Thoughts

Overall, this is a great, great victory --- and a much-needed one --- for Michigan State. The school took some serious punches in May and June, but finding a way to keep Guskiewicz around has a tremendously positive short-term and long-term impact on MSU. The Spartans can now realistically get a new athletic director in place before the football season starts, and everyone can take a breath of fresh air and realize things might end up being OK.

As for Batt, the deed has already been done there. If he cut away from Michigan State that quickly, I doubt he was ever truly that long for MSU in the first place. He seems like an AD who is quite effective at his job, but the Spartans are probably better off moving on now.

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