J Batt has start date at Kentucky, reduced buyout at Michigan State
· Yahoo Sports
J Batt’s new job start date and the terms of his contract buyout are set. His departure from Michigan State’s athletic department remains unclear.
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Batt will take over officially as Kentucky athletic director on July 28. According to his new school, UK will pay MSU a $3.95 million buyout for breaking the six-year, $12.6 million-plus contract Batt signed last year when he was hired by MSU.
A source with knowledge of the situation told the Free Press the terms of the buyout were negotiated down from the $5 million MSU was owed with Batt’s contract. MSU spokesman Matt Larson later confirmed the terms. That deal had an escape clause that cut his buyout in half if MSU President Kevin Guskiewicz were to depart, but Guskiewicz announced Monday that he would remain in East Lansing rather than taking the job at Clemson he initially accepted May 27.
Emily Gerkin Guerrant, MSU’s vice president and chief communications officer, told the Free Press on Monday that Batt remains an employee and is reporting to work at the school. No departure date has been determined, she said, but she expected that to be finalized soon.
MSU hired the 44-year-old Batt away from Georgia Tech on June 2, 2025. He accepted the Kentucky job just over a year later, on June 15 while Guskiewicz was in limbo.
Neither Guskiewicz, the school, nor MSU’s Board of Trustees have announced an interim athletic director with Batt still in his position.
Batt made $1.85 million in base pay in his one year at MSU, with a $100,000 annual bump set for July 1. He was scheduled to get raises each year of his deal, up to a projected $2.35 million in the final year of the contract (2030-31), and also had unspecified annual bonuses in his contract for meeting and exceeding goals established each June with the university president.
Kentucky gave Batt a six-year contract that reportedly pays him nearly $3 million annually. He will serve both as athletic director and CEO of the school’s Champions Blue organization.
Contact Chris Solari: [email protected]. Follow him @chrissolari.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: J Batt has start date at Kentucky, reduced buyout at Michigan State