Michigan State is going through yet another change in leadership.
MSU athletic director J Batt is finalizing a deal with Kentucky for the same position, a source told Michigan State On SI on Saturday. Batt is departing his role in East Lansing after just one year, and he’s putting the Spartans in a very precarious spot.
Open Spots at President, AD
The two most important roles pertaining to Michigan State athletics are now vacant. University president Kevin Guskiewicz is set to leave the school for Clemson as well. His departure, announced on May 27, is a major reason Batt’s move to Kentucky became plausible.
That’s because Batt had a clause in his contract that cut his buyout in half in the event that Guskiewicz was no longer the president at MSU. The price tag, which will presumably be paid for by Kentucky, dropped from $5 million to $2.5 million.
Interim Plans
No president probably means that there will be no permanent AD for a while. In the interim, a source has indicated that Jon Palumbo is the favorite to take over Batt’s duties. Palumbo going to Lexington too is easy to imagine, though. Palumbo followed Batt to Michigan State from Georgia Tech and has been operating under the title of Executive Deputy Athletics Director and Chief Operating Officer…