The price tag for AD J Batt’s Michigan State departure to Kentucky has “just went back up,” as President Kevin Guskiewicz will remain at the university and not leave for Clemson, meaning the buyout for Batt remains at $5M, according to Chris Solari of the DETROIT FREE PRESS. Batt’s $12.6M-plus contract had an “escape clause that cut his buyout in half if Guskiewicz left East Lansing.” That “appears to be nullified now” that Guskiewicz announced Monday that he plans to remain president at MSU. After a “public spat in early May with MSU’s Board of Trustees,” Guskiewicz initially accepted the presidency at Clemson on May 27. Batt then accepted the Kentucky job on June 15. However, the day Batt accepted the job at Kentucky, Michigan State men’s basketball coach Tom Izzo “went off about the dysfunction within the school’s power base and made a plea that focused solely on keeping Guskiewicz in East Lansing.” The behind-the-scenes work to keep Guskiewicz began before he took the Clemson job, with the MSU Board of Trustees “offering on May 17 to nearly double his salary to stay.” Izzo and local business leaders, along with prominent MSU donors, also “worked on keeping a pathway for Guskiewicz to return after his decision to leave became public.” Despite all of that, Kentucky President Eli Capilouto posted on X on Monday afternoon that Batt “was still headed to Lexington” (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 7/6).
MONEY FOR MORE: In Detroit, Connor Earegood noted in gaining $5M for Batt’s departure, it gives MSU a “strong sum to hire Batt’s replacement.” If the school uses the whole sum toward a new candidate, it “could have its pick of the litter.” It could also “choose to bank that money and hire someone outside of another university.” The university “could look internally, particularly at” Spartan Ventures CEO and MSU Executive Deputy AD & COO Jon Palumbo. Earegood: “Or it could tap someone outside of the NCAA realm” (DETROIT NEWS, 7/6).
