Michigan State expected to hire J Batt as next athletic director
Michigan State expected to hire J Batt as next athletic director
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Tom Izzo feels 'reinvigorated' by Elite Eight run, MSU basketball
MSU head coach Tom Izzo fell to 8-3 in Elite Eight games in a night that was all Auburn from the start in March Madness, March 30, 2025 in Atlanta.
One month after a change in leadership, Michigan State University has found its new athletic director.
Jason "J" Batt, currently in the same role at Georgia Tech, is expected to be announced as the new AD in East Lansing on Monday, June 2, according to a source familiar with the search process.
Though full contract terms remain to be signed, the 43-year-old will receive around $1.8 million per year in base salary. MSU also will pay Georgia Tech a little over $2 million to buy out the remainder of the contract, which runs through 2029 and that he signed in December.
Batt's contract extension with Georgia Tech gave him an initial annual base salary of $979,000 for 2025, according to documents, and raises of $100,000 per year over the next four years. He also earns $271,000 in supplemental salary for a total of $1.25 million.
More: NCAA issues notice of violations for Michigan State football from Mel Tucker era
In his time in Atlanta, Batt helped generate nearly $300 million toward a $500 million "Full Steam Ahead" fundraising effort that began after he was hired in October 2022. That will go toward renovating Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field, which is the Yellow Jackets' home football stadium, along with improvements to the school's basketball center and volleyball gymnasium.
Batt also in November was appointed chairman of the College Football Hall of Fame, which is based in Atlanta.
Previously, Batt served as executive deputy director of athletics, chief operating officer and chief revenue officer at Alabama over five years (2017-22). In 2021, he was named to the Sports Business Journal's "Forty Under 40" list for helping spearhead a 10-year, $600 million fundraising effort to improve facilities in Tuscaloosa.
'You have to love the enterprise and love how you can help people,' Batt told the publication in 2021. 'I still believe that most people give to help others, not to see their name on a building.'
In December, MSU approved a three-phase plan to modernize Spartan Stadium, home of the football team. That includes $28 million in improvements as well as "an authorization to plan for the future modernization of the stadium."
Batt was senior associate athletic director at East Carolina (2013-17) and spent four years at Maryland (2009-13), according to his Yellow Jackets bio.
Batt − who was born in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, and grew up in Charlottesville, Virginia − was on the men's soccer team at North Carolina during its 2001 NCAA championship and worked in fundraising at his alma mater as well as James Madison and William & Mary. While at UNC, he earned an undergraduate degree in journalism and mass communications and later a master's degree in sports administration.
New MSU president Kevin Guskiewicz was chancellor at UNC from 2019-24.
Alan Haller was forced out as MSU AD on May 1 after three-plus years in the role.
MORE: Jonathan Smith buyout to leave MSU football sliced in half with dismissal of AD
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