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Less than one year into his tenure at Michigan State, athletic director J Batt is heading to the University of Kentucky.
Kentucky Athletics announced on Monday, June 15, that Batt has been hired as the director of UK Athletics, as well as CEO of Champions Blue, the school's nonprofit arm meant to bring in revenue for athletics during the name, image and likeness era (NIL) of college sports, similar to the Spartan Ventures project Batt helped create.
Now, within a month of one another, both Batt and University President Kevin Guskiewicz have announced their departures from MSU.
“I appreciate the energy and innovation that J Batt brought to Spartan Athletics over this past year. He has set our athletics department on a positive path, one that our outstanding and dedicated team will continue driving forward," Guskiewicz, who is still MSU's president, wrote in a statement. "During his tenure, he helped position our athletics program for success in a rapidly changing collegiate landscape while advancing our commitment to competitive excellence, academic achievement, and the student-athlete experience. Amy and I both wish J, Leah and their family happiness and success in Kentucky.
“I will be working with university and athletics department leadership over the coming days to name an interim and outline a search process for moving forward. We remain committed to supporting our student-athletes, coaches, staff, alumni and fans while continuing to pursue excellence in all that we do," Guskiewicz added.
J Batt is the Michigan State University athletic director. He was hired in June 2025 by MSU after working at Georgia Tech as the athletic director from 2022-25.
Before working at Georgia Tech, Batt worked as executive deputy director of athletics, chief operating officer and chief revenue officer at the University of Alabama from 2017-22. He helped develop and implement a 10-year, $600 million capital initiative for the university's athletics department.
He was a member of the 2001 NCAA championship men's soccer team at University of North Carolina, where he first met MSU President Kevin Guskiewicz.
Guskiewicz started as MSU's president in March 2024.
In June 2025, the MSU Board of Trustees approved Batt's hiring to take over the role from Alan Haller, who ran the university's athletic department from September 2021 to May 2025.
Guskiewicz recruited Batt from Georgia Tech, the first athletic director job he held beginning in 2022. Guskiewicz had met Batt more than two decades ago while researching concussions at University of North Carolina, where Batt played soccer.
Batt was hired at MSU under a six-year, $12.6 million contract in 2025, starting with a $1.85 million base pay that would increase $100,000 annually.
Initially, his buyout would be $5 million while he was in his first two years of his contract, but it then would drop to $2.5 million if Guskiewicz left.
MSU spent more than $2 million to snag J Batt from Georgia Tech, where he was under contract until 2029.
As athletic director, Batt was instrumental in future planning for MSU athletics in the coming years.
On Dec. 1, MSU announced former Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald would replace Jonathan Smith as MSU's football coach after two years.
Fitzgerald went 110-101 over 17 seasons with Big Ten school Northwestern University. He was fired in 2023 after a hazing scandal that "included forced participation, nudity and sexualized acts of a degrading nature." He denied any knowledge of the acts and filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the school in October 2023, which was settled out of court in August 2025.
Spartan Ventures CEO Jon Palumbo was hired under Batt's tenure as well.
The Spartan Ventures board of directors, on which Batt currently sits, named Palumbo as the group's leader in March.
Spartan Ventures is a nonprofit corporation designed to fund the MSU athletic department during the NIL era of college athletics.
Spartan Ventures will include two subsidiaries, a nonprofit Spartan Athletic Foundation, and a for-profit Spartan Media Ventures, designed to optimize media rights sponsorships and branding opportunities.
The project is supposed to launch July 1.
On the evening of Sunday, May 17, the MSU Board of Trustees hosted a meeting at which two resolutions were quickly passed, intended to incentivize Guskiewicz to stay at MSU after learning he was being pursued by other universities.
The board approved raising his contract's base salary to $2 million, a deal he never signed, and an update to the code of conduct and ethics policy for board members, bringing immediate consequences to anyone not following the policy.
Guskiewicz spurned the salary increase and on May 27, the Clemson University board named Guskiewicz the school's new president.
As Guskiewicz plans his departure from MSU, Batt's buyout has been reduced by half because of a provision in his contract.
More: MSU board censures trustees Balow, Vassar for not signing board rules
In a letter to the MSU community, Guskiewicz said the board is misaligned and that different members revisiting past conflicts created a situation in which the board is not collectively working to move the university forward.
During the June 12 board meeting, two trustees, Rema Vassar, D-Detroit, and Mike Balow, R-Plymouth, were formally censured for their failure to sign the updated code of conduct and ethics policy.
Trustee infighting has long been a struggle for the MSU board, with the previous president of the university, Samuel Stanley Jr., saying he left MSU over disputes with the board and that he had lost confidence in them. He resigned in October 2022.
Men's basketball head coach Tom Izzo said "he can't stand what's going on" when it comes to changes in leadership at MSU. He said he'll have more to say, but for now, he called on the university's 600,000 living alumni to "stand up."
"I've had it. This is self-inflicted," MSU men's basketball head coach Tom Izzo said on Monday, June 15. "We just lost the best president that may have ever been here maybe. One of the best and there's other dominoes that get effected when things go wrong like that. I'm very upset about it and I'm sick of it."
He said he's not an alumnus, just an invested stakeholder, and he wants more alumni to "stand up."
"What happened with our president is ridiculous," Izzo said. "He said it, we know the reasons, and I'm ashamed, I'm disgusted, hurt."
Detroit Free Press reporter Chris Solari contributed to the reporting of this story.
Contact Karly Graham at [email protected]. Follow her on X at @KarlyGrahamJrn.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Why is J Batt leaving MSU? AD takes job at University of Kentucky
Continue reading...
Kentucky Athletics announced on Monday, June 15, that Batt has been hired as the director of UK Athletics, as well as CEO of Champions Blue, the school's nonprofit arm meant to bring in revenue for athletics during the name, image and likeness era (NIL) of college sports, similar to the Spartan Ventures project Batt helped create.
Now, within a month of one another, both Batt and University President Kevin Guskiewicz have announced their departures from MSU.
“I appreciate the energy and innovation that J Batt brought to Spartan Athletics over this past year. He has set our athletics department on a positive path, one that our outstanding and dedicated team will continue driving forward," Guskiewicz, who is still MSU's president, wrote in a statement. "During his tenure, he helped position our athletics program for success in a rapidly changing collegiate landscape while advancing our commitment to competitive excellence, academic achievement, and the student-athlete experience. Amy and I both wish J, Leah and their family happiness and success in Kentucky.
“I will be working with university and athletics department leadership over the coming days to name an interim and outline a search process for moving forward. We remain committed to supporting our student-athletes, coaches, staff, alumni and fans while continuing to pursue excellence in all that we do," Guskiewicz added.
Who is J Batt?
J Batt is the Michigan State University athletic director. He was hired in June 2025 by MSU after working at Georgia Tech as the athletic director from 2022-25.
Before working at Georgia Tech, Batt worked as executive deputy director of athletics, chief operating officer and chief revenue officer at the University of Alabama from 2017-22. He helped develop and implement a 10-year, $600 million capital initiative for the university's athletics department.
He was a member of the 2001 NCAA championship men's soccer team at University of North Carolina, where he first met MSU President Kevin Guskiewicz.
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Guskiewicz recruited, hired Batt
Guskiewicz started as MSU's president in March 2024.
In June 2025, the MSU Board of Trustees approved Batt's hiring to take over the role from Alan Haller, who ran the university's athletic department from September 2021 to May 2025.
Guskiewicz recruited Batt from Georgia Tech, the first athletic director job he held beginning in 2022. Guskiewicz had met Batt more than two decades ago while researching concussions at University of North Carolina, where Batt played soccer.
How much was MSU paying Batt?
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Batt was hired at MSU under a six-year, $12.6 million contract in 2025, starting with a $1.85 million base pay that would increase $100,000 annually.
Initially, his buyout would be $5 million while he was in his first two years of his contract, but it then would drop to $2.5 million if Guskiewicz left.
MSU spent more than $2 million to snag J Batt from Georgia Tech, where he was under contract until 2029.
You must be registered for see images attach
Who did J Batt hire?
As athletic director, Batt was instrumental in future planning for MSU athletics in the coming years.
On Dec. 1, MSU announced former Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald would replace Jonathan Smith as MSU's football coach after two years.
Fitzgerald went 110-101 over 17 seasons with Big Ten school Northwestern University. He was fired in 2023 after a hazing scandal that "included forced participation, nudity and sexualized acts of a degrading nature." He denied any knowledge of the acts and filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the school in October 2023, which was settled out of court in August 2025.
Spartan Ventures CEO Jon Palumbo was hired under Batt's tenure as well.
The Spartan Ventures board of directors, on which Batt currently sits, named Palumbo as the group's leader in March.
You must be registered for see images attach
What is Spartan Ventures?
Spartan Ventures is a nonprofit corporation designed to fund the MSU athletic department during the NIL era of college athletics.
Spartan Ventures will include two subsidiaries, a nonprofit Spartan Athletic Foundation, and a for-profit Spartan Media Ventures, designed to optimize media rights sponsorships and branding opportunities.
The project is supposed to launch July 1.
Guskiewicz leaving for Clemson
On the evening of Sunday, May 17, the MSU Board of Trustees hosted a meeting at which two resolutions were quickly passed, intended to incentivize Guskiewicz to stay at MSU after learning he was being pursued by other universities.
The board approved raising his contract's base salary to $2 million, a deal he never signed, and an update to the code of conduct and ethics policy for board members, bringing immediate consequences to anyone not following the policy.
Guskiewicz spurned the salary increase and on May 27, the Clemson University board named Guskiewicz the school's new president.
As Guskiewicz plans his departure from MSU, Batt's buyout has been reduced by half because of a provision in his contract.
More: MSU board censures trustees Balow, Vassar for not signing board rules
You must be registered for see images attach
Board of Trustees trouble
In a letter to the MSU community, Guskiewicz said the board is misaligned and that different members revisiting past conflicts created a situation in which the board is not collectively working to move the university forward.
During the June 12 board meeting, two trustees, Rema Vassar, D-Detroit, and Mike Balow, R-Plymouth, were formally censured for their failure to sign the updated code of conduct and ethics policy.
Trustee infighting has long been a struggle for the MSU board, with the previous president of the university, Samuel Stanley Jr., saying he left MSU over disputes with the board and that he had lost confidence in them. He resigned in October 2022.
Izzo calls on Spartan Nation to 'stand up'
Men's basketball head coach Tom Izzo said "he can't stand what's going on" when it comes to changes in leadership at MSU. He said he'll have more to say, but for now, he called on the university's 600,000 living alumni to "stand up."
"I've had it. This is self-inflicted," MSU men's basketball head coach Tom Izzo said on Monday, June 15. "We just lost the best president that may have ever been here maybe. One of the best and there's other dominoes that get effected when things go wrong like that. I'm very upset about it and I'm sick of it."
He said he's not an alumnus, just an invested stakeholder, and he wants more alumni to "stand up."
"What happened with our president is ridiculous," Izzo said. "He said it, we know the reasons, and I'm ashamed, I'm disgusted, hurt."
Detroit Free Press reporter Chris Solari contributed to the reporting of this story.
Contact Karly Graham at [email protected]. Follow her on X at @KarlyGrahamJrn.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Why is J Batt leaving MSU? AD takes job at University of Kentucky
Continue reading...
