Kentucky isn’t being coy: New AD J Batt was chosen to show UK the money
The brave new world of big-time college sports is on stark display in the University of Kentucky news release announcing J Batt as UK’s new athletics director.
Batt, 44, is introduced as “CEO of Champions Blue, Director of UK Athletics,” suggesting the intended primacy of the new limited liability corporation the university has created to run its athletics department.
In extolling the accomplishments of Batt, now the former AD at Michigan State as well as Georgia Tech, Kentucky president Eli Capilouto leads with “J has distinguished himself as a record-breaker in fundraising and as a leader who strategically invests in facilities to maximize resources and revenue.”
From the time Mitch Barnhart announced his retirement as the UK athletics director in early March, pretty much everything Kentucky communicated about what it was looking for in his replacement centered on two words: “Revenue enhancement.”
Based on reputation, Batt seems the man for that job.
Over the three years (2022-2025) that Batt spent as Georgia Tech athletics director, fundraising for Yellow Jackets sports rose 40%. In his one year at Michigan State, the university received a $401 million pledge from philanthropists Greg and Dawn Williams, most of which was earmarked for athletics.
Batt’s short stint at MSU featured tasks and challenges similar to what UK has faced in the new era of universities sharing revenue with their players.
Where Kentucky created Champions Blue, LLC, and folded its athletics department into it, Batt at Michigan State set up “Spartan Ventures,” a non-profit organization with which MSU entered into a brand-management agreement.
Subsequently, a for-profit company, “Spartan Media Ventures,” was spun off to “maximize revenue generation within the athletics department and support name, image and likeness opportunities for MSU athletes.”
Concerns from some members of the Michigan State Board of Trustees about a lack of transparency with the organizational documents of the new for-profit venture led to a public controversy. That tiff played a large role in MSU president Kevin Guskiewicz choosing to step down to accept the same position at Clemson.
The impending departure of Guskiewicz, who had hired Batt, made a sitting Big Ten AD available to Kentucky.
Evaluating coaching hires
If you are wondering about Batt’s use of an initial as his first name, he was one of three students in an elementary school class whose given first name was “Jason.” To alleviate confusion, he started going by “Jay,” which eventually he shortened to “J.”
Traditionally, athletics directors have primarily been judged on the quality of their major coaching hires. In that realm, Batt’s track record is mixed.
Upon arrival at Georgia Tech, Batt inherited an interim head football coach, Brent Key.
In seeking a permanent coach, Batt zeroed in on then-Tulane coach Willie Fritz. That would have been a home run hire because Fritz has won big everywhere he has coached. Alas, with Tulane preparing to play in the American Athletic Conference title game, Fritz and Georgia Tech could not reach an agreement.
So Batt and Tech removed the interim tag from Key’s title, and that has worked out well. Key currently stands 27-20 with three bowl trips in four seasons.
In men’s basketball at Tech, Batt inherited Josh Pastner. The AD subsequently cashiered the veteran coach after Tech went 15-18 in 2022-23, a second straight losing season for the Yellow Jackets.
Batt’s choice to replace Pastner, former NBA guard Damon Stoudemire went 42-55 in three years, never had a winning record and was let go by Georgia Tech after this past season.
At Michigan State, Batt had a quick hook with inherited football coach Jonathan Smith. The ex-Oregon State head man was dismissed after going 4-8 last fall, giving Smith a 9-15 mark in two seasons with the Spartans.
To replace Smith, Batt and Michigan State hired former Northwestern head man Pat Fitzgerald, a choice that would have had more luster had it been made in 2020 rather than in 2025.
Indirect ties to Kentucky
A North Carolina alumnus, UK’s new AD has no known, direct ties to Kentucky, but there are some indirect connections.
From 2007 through 2009, Batt served as an athletics fundraiser at James Madison University. Kenny Brooks was JMU’s women’s basketball coach at the time.
For five years, 2017 through 2022, Batt worked as deputy AD at Alabama. The Crimson Tide athletics director, Greg Byrne, is a former associate AD at UK.
After settlement of the House v. NCAA antitrust lawsuit in 2025 that reorganized the economics of Division I athletics, the NCAA set up an “implementation committee” to guide the transition into the new era of revenue sharing with athletes.
On that committee, Batt served with Kentucky’s Barnhart.
For all the recent angst that has surrounded UK athletics, Batt inherits a strong coaching roster. A first-time head coach, Will Stein (football) seems promising. Craig Skinner (volleyball), Brooks (women’s basketball) and Nick Mingione (baseball) are all producing positive results.
If Mark Pope (men’s basketball) can turn his recent recruiting momentum into a strong third season, Batt may not face any major coaching decisions in his early tenure.
That would free Kentucky’s new AD to concentrate on the job he was hired to do: Driving revenue.
