Just weeks after learning that Michigan State President Kevin Guskiewicz was leaving for Clemson, Spartan fans got hit with some more bad news on Saturday.
Losing Guskiewicz definitely hurt and put a bad taste in everyone’s mouths regarding the board of trustees, but there had been rumors circulating this week that the “I heart Kevin G” campaign going on around campus was an effort to convince him to stay. While that rumor was shot down by those running the campaign, people still believe there was a motive to all the signs around campus.
But all the Guskiewicz news did was precede more unfortunate Michigan State news.
According to Pete Thamel, Michigan State Athletic Director J Batt has emerged as Kentucky’s target to fill their athletic director position. He said no deal had been finalized, but now it looks like the Spartans’ athletic director is working on that.
Per Michigan State’s SI beat writer Jacob Cotsonika, Batt is finalizing a deal with Kentucky and there could be an announcement in the next 72 hours.
So in the span of a month, Michigan State (likely) lost a president who promised a bright future for the university but who succumbed to the board of trustees and an athletic director who was touted as an elite fundraiser and who also sought to make the Spartans elite in every sport. He also was the main reason that Michigan State hired Pat Fitzgerald after firing Jonathan Smith.
These short stints by Batt and Guskiewicz won’t be remembered fondly not because they did poorly, but rather because it felt like they were only in East Lansing for a cup of coffee.
Michigan State fans are (rightfully) frustrated
Losing a president is one thing, especially when the board of trustees is to blame, but losing a president and an athletic director in the span of a few weeks is just an incredibly poor look.
Michigan State was already under fire for essentially driving Guskiewicz to up and leave despite voting to double his salary and now the Spartans have to answer for losing a rising athletic director to a basketball-centric SEC school. I get that Michigan State is also basketball-centric right now, but that’s only because the storied football program needed a change.
Fans are definitely losing it on the university a little bit on social media for letting this happen, but I guess you can’t blame Batt for leaving after his president did the same thing weeks earlier.
Michigan State can’t mess up these next hires.
Add us as a preferred source on Google