Michigan State is now officially in need of a new athletic director.
The news broke on Saturday afternoon that Spartans athletic director J Batt was the lead target for the same position at Kentucky, and on Monday morning Pete Thamel of ESPN reported that a deal has been finalized. According to Thamel, Batt has finalized a 6-year deal to make him Kentucky’s next Athletic Director and CEO of Champions Blue, the school’s for-profit LLC.
The news of Batt's departure has not been officially announced by either Kentucky, Michigan State or Batt himself. But with a report like this from Thamel, we can treat this as a done deal and the Spartans back on the market for a new athletic director.
Batt was officially hired by Michigan State to replace Alan Haller as the athletic director last June. In a short time as the Spartans' athletic director, Batt has helped found Spartan Ventures to transform that athletic department’s fundraising and also replaced Jonathan Smith with Pat Fitzgerald as the head football coach.
Losing Batt to Kentucky is a tough blow for the Spartans as they try to find a source of stability at the top of their athletics department. Michigan State will now be in search of its third athletic director in less than two years, and hopefully this time they'll land someone who'll be there for the long haul.
The news broke on Saturday afternoon that Spartans athletic director J Batt was the lead target for the same position at Kentucky, and on Monday morning Pete Thamel of ESPN reported that a deal has been finalized. According to Thamel, Batt has finalized a 6-year deal to make him Kentucky’s next Athletic Director and CEO of Champions Blue, the school’s for-profit LLC.
The news of Batt's departure has not been officially announced by either Kentucky, Michigan State or Batt himself. But with a report like this from Thamel, we can treat this as a done deal and the Spartans back on the market for a new athletic director.
Batt was officially hired by Michigan State to replace Alan Haller as the athletic director last June. In a short time as the Spartans' athletic director, Batt has helped found Spartan Ventures to transform that athletic department’s fundraising and also replaced Jonathan Smith with Pat Fitzgerald as the head football coach.
Losing Batt to Kentucky is a tough blow for the Spartans as they try to find a source of stability at the top of their athletics department. Michigan State will now be in search of its third athletic director in less than two years, and hopefully this time they'll land someone who'll be there for the long haul.
5 months ago
