Kentucky finalizes deal with Michigan State AD J Batt to replace Mitch Barnhart
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kentucky hired J Batt as its 11th athletics director and new CEO of Champions Blue.
- Batt will replace Mitch Barnhart, whose final day as AD is June 30.
- Batt arrives with a fundraising record that includes securing a $400 million commitment.
Kentucky has hired former Michigan State and Georgia Tech athletics director J Batt as the 11th athletics director in program history.
Batt, 44, will replace Mitch Barnhart — who is retiring after serving in the role for 24 years — later this summer and will carry the additional title of CEO of Champions Blue, the nonprofit LLC created by UK to house the athletic department last year.
In adding the CEO title to the job description, UK sent a clear message that the next leader of the Wildcat athletic department would be well positioned to run the enterprise more like a business, maximizing revenue and managing expenses in an era when schools can now distribute more than $20 million per year directly to athletes.
Batt arrives with the reputation as a prolific fundraiser after helping Georgia Tech break its previous athletic fundraising record by more than 40%. In his one year at Michigan State, Batt helped create Spartan Ventures, a tax-exempt corporation tasked with maximizing revenue and supporting NIL opportunities for athletes. At Michigan State, he secured a $400 million commitment, the largest single gift in college athletics, according to UK.
“Across 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,” UK President Eli Capilouto said in a news release. “As important, he has remained focused on ensuring student-athletes compete at the highest levels while being prepared for lives of meaning and purpose.”
Prior to his stint at Georgia Tech, Batt spent six years as the executive director of athletics at Alabama. He also worked in administration at East Carolina, Maryland, James Madison, William and Mary and North Carolina.
He won a national championship as a soccer player at North Carolina in 2001. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communications and a master’s degree in sports administration.
“We couldn’t be more excited to join the University of Kentucky and the Big Blue Nation,” Batt said in the release. “The championship standard has been established at Kentucky, and we are committed to upholding that standard of excellence. Our continued success will take everyone in the Big Blue Nation, working together to provide resources to our teams and our student athletes that position them for success. With that standard as our north star, Kentucky athletics and Champions Blue are well positioned to deliver results in the changing landscape that is college athletics today.
“Despite this period of ongoing change, we remain in the opportunity business — creating opportunities for our student-athletes to compete and win championships, earn degrees and prepare for life after sport. We are excited to work with an outstanding staff and coaches on behalf of a University to deliver for the Big Blue Nation and to serve this special community that represents the entire Commonwealth.”
Batt’s hiring caps a period of upheaval in a department that was known for stability in its most high profile roles or more than a decade.
In the past two years, UK has hired new coaches in men’s basketball, football, women’s basketball and now a new athletics director. Barnhart spent more than two decades leading the department. John Calipari spent 15 years as men’s basketball coach and Mark Stoops spent 13 years as football coach before Calipari left for Arkansas in 2024 and Stoops was fired last December.
Barnhart’s final day on the job is June 30. Batt will spend the next several weeks meeting with UK administrators, athletic staff, donors and other stakeholders in preparation for taking over the job, according to the release.
UK did not immediately release contract information for Batt.
Barnhart would have been paid $1.55 million next year, plus a retention bonus of $650,000 if he had remained as athletics director through July 2027. Batt’s Michigan State contract would have paid him $1.95 million next year, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The buyout Batt owed Michigan State to leave the job dropped in half to $2.5 million when university president Kevin Guskiewicz announced in May he was leaving the school for Clemson.