Michigan State announced the launch of Spartan Ventures which has been in the works for a while now and there were two key leaders responsible for getting it off the ground.
The first was Michigan State athletic director J Batt and the other was the university’s president, Kevin Guskiewicz. The two have since taken the same jobs at Kentucky and Clemson, respectively, so they won’t be around to see it flourish, but notice how I didn’t say former athletic director and former president?
That’s because a harsh reality has set in following the launch of Spartan Ventures.
Both Batt and Guskiewicz are still listed on the Board of Directors for Spartan Ventures, an interesting tidbit caught by Jacob Cotsonika of Michigan State on SI.
J Batt and Kevin Guskiewicz are still both listed as members of the Board of Directors for Spartan Ventures, which officially launched today.
— Jacob Cotsonika (@jacobcotsonika) July 1, 2026
Guskiewicz has had one foot in Clemson for a month, and Batt has had one foot in Kentucky for about 2.5 weeks.
Not an ideal setup. pic.twitter.com/f2CrrTNwX3
A month ago, Guskiewicz took the job to be Clemson’s next president and shortly after that, Batt accepted the Kentucky AD position. Both Michigan State leaders who were expected to be around for a Spartan Athletics renaissance have since decided to bolt, and it’s mostly due to the ever-disappointing MSU Board of Trustees.
Having two guys who are just raking in paychecks while working for other schools on the board of directors for one of the biggest program launches in school history is a bad look.
It feels like Michigan State is being held hostage by two guys who no longer want to be there. It would have made much more sense to name replacements for Guskiewicz and Batt to help ease others into their roles so they’re not shorthanded or missing leadership when they finally do leave.
As David Harns put it, Michigan State is paying Batt while he’s promoting Kentucky. Time to end that.
Michigan State needs new leadership immediately
Sitting by and watching a lame duck athletic director and a president with one foot already in the state of South Carolina is not good for optics.
Batt has seemingly wanted out of East Lansing for months after rumors surfaced about him applying for other athletic director jobs — even ones in the Big Ten — across the NCAA. The man known as a master fundraiser is about to be on his third job in the past two years. I know he said that he’s staying at Kentucky for a while, but for a guy like him who’s bounced around, that could mean 2-3 years.
Since COVID, Batt has been at Alabama, Georgia Tech, Michigan State, and now Kentucky. Woof.
As for Guskiewicz, I do think there’s some hope that he’s going to stay, but that’s dwindling by the day and it’s pretty close to zero now. He was a great president and I know this because Tom Izzo speaks highly of him, calling him one of the best that the university has ever had. But he’s moving on, and so should Michigan State.
Since Batt is hanging around, Guskiewicz can’t name a replacement or interim which is severely hurting the athletic department. It’s a bad look to have two guys hired elsewhere still running things.
It’s time for new leadership and to get Batt to Lexington as quickly as possible, and transition away from Guskiewicz. No more paying two guys to represent other universities.
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