Michigan State has lost its president and athletic director weeks apart and now faces a leadership crisis.
President Kevin M. Guskiewicz announced he’d be leaving for Clemson at the end of May, and athletic director J Batt was hired away by Kentucky on Monday.
Michigan State , who has worked under many athletic directors and school presidents since he took over the program in 1995, lamented that Guskiewicz and Batt decided to leave.
鈥淚 am very upset about it, and I鈥檓 sick of it,鈥� Izzo told reporters. 鈥淚 think 600,000 living alums better start rallying together.鈥�
At least one of those alums is on the same page.
Mark Hollis, the school’s former athletic director who brought the Spartans to new heights before a fall from public esteem during , told The Associated Press he would want to return to his alma mater.
鈥淚 would be interested in talking to Michigan State about it,鈥� Hollis said at Detroit Golf Club, where he was serving in his role as tournament director of the . 鈥淚 care for the university and I want to help it in any way I can.鈥�
The university’s governing body has been , especially as of late. Guskiewicz cited 鈥渄iffering perspectives within the Board of Trustees” in a statement about his departure.
The board created an 鈥渦nsustainable situation鈥� for him to stay, he added.
Batt, hired by Guskiewicz, is out . He came to East Lansing from Georgia Tech, touted as a master fundraiser. He was executive deputy athletic director at Alabama and served as chief operating officer and chief revenue officer in the athletic department there before going to Tech.
鈥淎cross these institutions, J has distinguished himself as a record-breaker in fundraising and as a leader who strategically invests in facilities to maximize resources and revenue,鈥� Kentucky President Eli Capilouto said in the school’s hiring announcement.
Batt will succeed retiring Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart, who had the job since 2002. Barnhart won鈥檛 take on a at the school as was originally planned upon stepping down after questioned that decision.
鈥淭he championship standard has been established at Kentucky and we are committed to upholding that standard of excellence,鈥� Batt said in the school鈥檚 statement.
Hollis had a successful run for a decade as AD at Michigan State before announcing his retirement in 2018 amid the fallout from the sex abuse scandal involving Nassar, a former Michigan State sports doctor who also worked for USA Gymnastics.
He was credited with innovative concepts such as putting a court in the middle of a football field as he did when Michigan State played Kentucky in 2003 at Detroit鈥檚 Ford Field in front of a then-world-record crowd of 78,129 at a basketball game.
Hollis, a close friend of Izzo鈥檚, hired Mark Dantonio, who became the school鈥檚 all-time winningest football coach.
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