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CBS News
3 days ago
- Business
- CBS News
Michigan State president advises board to hire Georgia Tech's J Batt as athletic director, AP source says
Michigan State University President Kevin Guskiewicz is recommending the school's board of trustees hire J Batt as athletic director, a person familiar with the situation told the Associated Press. The person spoke to AP on condition of anonymity Sunday because the president's hopes of hiring the Georgia Tech athletic director had not been announced. Michigan State is expected to announce Batt is Guskiewicz's pick as soon as Monday, the person said. With the help of Hall of Fame basketball coach Tom Izzo and Deputy Athletic Director Jennifer Smith, the school has been searching for an athletic director for a month. MSU announced last month that Alan Haller would be leaving the position. His last day as athletic director was May 11. Batt has been Georgia Tech's athletic director since the fall of 2022. He hired football coach Brent Key, who has led the program to consecutive winning seasons after a string of four losing seasons in a row. He also hired Damon Stoudamire to coach the basketball team and the former NBA player was .500 last season in his second year. Previously, Batt was executive deputy athletics director at Alabama and served as chief operating officer and chief revenue officer in the athletic department. Batt is regarded as a strong fundraiser, an asset for any athletic department in this era of college athletics. He guided the launch of a 10-year, $600 million fundraising campaign to benefit Crimson Tide athletics. He helped raise $78.2 million for athletics in his first fiscal year at Georgia Tech to surpass the previous single-year mark by more than 40%. At Michigan State, his top priorities will be to raise money and help the football program win — perhaps in that order. Universities will be allowed to share up to $20.5 million in revenue with athletes next year. Direct payments will be in addition to third-party name, image and likeness deals facilitated by school-affiliated collectives. Under Haller, the Spartans won Big Ten championships in men's basketball, women's soccer, women's gymnastics, men's hockey and women's cross country. In 2024, MSU student-athletes recorded the highest cumulative GPA in athletic department history with a 3.4324. Michigan State, though, has had three straight losing seasons in football. The Spartans were 5-7 overall and 3-6 in the Big Ten in coach Jonathan Smith's first year and expectations for them are modest in his second season. Haller, a Lansing, Michigan, native, was appointed vice president and director of intercollegiate athletics in September 2021. Note: The above video first aired on May 1, 2025.
Washington Post
3 days ago
- Business
- Washington Post
Michigan State president advises board to hire Georgia Tech athletic director J Batt, AP source says
Michigan State University President Kevin Guskiewicz is recommending the school's board of trustees hire J Batt as athletic director , according to a person familiar with the situation. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Sunday because the president's hopes of hiring the Georgia Tech athletic director had not been announced. Michigan State is expected to announce Batt is Guskiewicz's pick as soon as Monday, the person said. With the help of Hall of Fame basketball coach Tom Izzo, the school has been searching for an athletic director for a month. Alan Haller's last day as athletic director was May 11. Batt has been Georgia Tech's athletic director since the fall of 2022. He hired football coach Brent Key , who has led the program to consecutive winning seasons after a string of four losing seasons in a row. He also hired Damon Stoudamire to coach the basketball team and the former NBA player was .500 last season in his second year. Previously, Batt was executive deputy athletics director at Alabama and served as chief operating officer and chief revenue officer in the athletic department. Batt is regarded as a strong fundraiser, an asset for any athletic department in this era of college athletics. He guided the launch of a 10-year, $600 million fundraising campaign to benefit Crimson Tide athletics. He helped raise $78.2 million for athletics in his first fiscal year at Georgia Tech to surpass the previous single-year mark by more than 40%. At Michigan State, his top priorities will be to raise money and help the football program win — perhaps in that order. Universities will be allowed to share up to $20.5 million in revenue with athletes next year. Direct payments will be in addition to third-party name, image and likeness deals facilitated by school-affiliated collectives. Under Haller, the Spartans won Big Ten championships in men's basketball, women's soccer, women's gymnastics, men's hockey and women's cross country. Michigan State, though, has had three straight losing seasons in football. The Spartans were 5-7 overall and 3-6 in the Big Ten in coach Jonathan Smith's first year and expectations for them are modest in his second season. ___ AP college sports:
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Michigan State president advises board to hire Georgia Tech athletic director J Batt, AP source says
Michigan State University President Kevin Guskiewicz is recommending the school's board of trustees hire J Batt as athletic director, according to a person familiar with the situation. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Sunday because the president's hopes of hiring the Georgia Tech athletic director had not been announced. Advertisement Michigan State is expected to announce Batt is Guskiewicz's pick as soon as Monday, the person said. With the help of Hall of Fame basketball coach Tom Izzo, the school has been searching for an athletic director for a month. Alan Haller's last day as athletic director was May 11. Batt has been Georgia Tech's athletic director since the fall of 2022. He hired football coach Brent Key, who has led the program to consecutive winning seasons after a string of four losing seasons in a row. He also hired Damon Stoudamire to coach the basketball team and the former NBA player was .500 last season in his second year. Advertisement Previously, Batt was executive deputy athletics director at Alabama and served as chief operating officer and chief revenue officer in the athletic department. Batt is regarded as a strong fundraiser, an asset for any athletic department in this era of college athletics. He guided the launch of a 10-year, $600 million fundraising campaign to benefit Crimson Tide athletics. He helped raise $78.2 million for athletics in his first fiscal year at Georgia Tech to surpass the previous single-year mark by more than 40%. At Michigan State, his top priorities will be to raise money and help the football program win — perhaps in that order. Advertisement Universities will be allowed to share up to $20.5 million in revenue with athletes next year. Direct payments will be in addition to third-party name, image and likeness deals facilitated by school-affiliated collectives. Under Haller, the Spartans won Big Ten championships in men's basketball, women's soccer, women's gymnastics, men's hockey and women's cross country. Michigan State, though, has had three straight losing seasons in football. The Spartans were 5-7 overall and 3-6 in the Big Ten in coach Jonathan Smith's first year and expectations for them are modest in his second season. ___ AP college sports:
Associated Press
3 days ago
- Business
- Associated Press
Michigan State president advises board to hire Georgia Tech athletic director J Batt, AP source says
Michigan State University President Kevin Guskiewicz is recommending the school's board of trustees hire J Batt as athletic director, according to a person familiar with the situation. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Sunday because the president's hopes of hiring the Georgia Tech athletic director had not been announced. Michigan State is expected to announce Batt is Guskiewicz's pick as soon as Monday, the person said. With the help of Hall of Fame basketball coach Tom Izzo, the school has been searching for an athletic director for a month. Alan Haller's last day as athletic director was May 11. Batt has been Georgia Tech's athletic director since the fall of 2022. He hired football coach Brent Key, who has led the program to consecutive winning seasons after a string of four losing seasons in a row. He also hired Damon Stoudamire to coach the basketball team and the former NBA player was .500 last season in his second year. Previously, Batt was executive deputy athletics director at Alabama and served as chief operating officer and chief revenue officer in the athletic department. Batt is regarded as a strong fundraiser, an asset for any athletic department in this era of college athletics. He guided the launch of a 10-year, $600 million fundraising campaign to benefit Crimson Tide athletics. He helped raise $78.2 million for athletics in his first fiscal year at Georgia Tech to surpass the previous single-year mark by more than 40%. At Michigan State, his top priorities will be to raise money and help the football program win — perhaps in that order. Universities will be allowed to share up to $20.5 million in revenue with athletes next year. Direct payments will be in addition to third-party name, image and likeness deals facilitated by school-affiliated collectives. Under Haller, the Spartans won Big Ten championships in men's basketball, women's soccer, women's gymnastics, men's hockey and women's cross country. Michigan State, though, has had three straight losing seasons in football. The Spartans were 5-7 overall and 3-6 in the Big Ten in coach Jonathan Smith's first year and expectations for them are modest in his second season. ___ AP college sports:
Associated Press
22-05-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
New Maryland athletic director Jim Smith is ready to focus on increasing revenue
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Maryland's new athletic director certainly understands the job description in 2025. 'We're going to focus on revenue, because make no mistake about it, to compete with the caliber of schools, not just in the Big Ten but across the country, we must increase our revenues,' Jim Smith said while being formally introduced Thursday. 'We're going to be trying a few new things — I'm not going to tell anyone any of them today — taking new approaches, applying what I've learned from professional leagues.' Maryland hired Smith last week, wrapping up a fairly turbulent couple months for the athletic department. In March, athletic director Damon Evans left for SMU, and around the same time, men's basketball coach Kevin Willard departed to take the Villanova job. The Terps quickly hired Buzz Williams away from Texas A&M to replace Willard. Smith arrives from baseball's Atlanta Braves, where he was the senior vice president of business strategy. He's also been president and CEO of the Ohio State University Alumni Association, and he's held senior executive positions at Arthur M. Blank Sports & Entertainment, in charge of revenue and marketing for the NFL's Atlanta Falcons and Major League Soccer's Atlanta United. 'I think you can see his vision is next level, outside the box,' Maryland women's basketball coach Brenda Frese said. 'It's a unique hire that in these changing times I think is much warrented.' Smith's challenge is to help Maryland compete — both on the field and in the athletic department's coffers — with schools like Michigan and Ohio State. He said when he started with the Falcons they were near the bottom of the NFL in revenue. 'If you're committed and you're focused to the goals, you will achieve. That's what we slowly did in Atlanta,' Smith said. 'There's no silver bullets from going towards the bottom of the Big Ten to the top of the Big Ten, from a revenue (standpoint). But there's a lot of opportunity here.' As college sports enter a new era expected to involve revenue sharing with players, the ability to bring in money can feel like an existential issue. 'I think if you were to say four years ago, this job is different and I'm not the candidate,' Smith said. 'I think it's just evolved to the point today where it requires someone who understands how a campus operates and can bring in different experience on how to generate additional revenue.' Maryland has won national titles in both men's and women's basketball in the last quarter-century, and the men's lacrosse team is playing in the Final Four this weekend. But football — and even basketball at times — have struggled to compete for fan attention in an area with plenty of pro teams. 'We're going to focus on filling SECU Stadium and Xfinity Center with Terp fans, and we're going to give the best fan experience in the country,' Smith said. Willard complained openly about the level of support he received from the athletic department before he left, and coach Mike Locksley's football team finished 4-8 last season — although he has local quarterback recruit Malik Washington now. 'Coach Locks and I have talked a lot about where we are as a program. I think he feels really good with the recruits that we've brought in,' Smith said. 'Part of it is our responsibility, to make sure that he's got the funding that's necessary to compete at the level with the other Big Ten programs.' ___ AP college sports:
