To say Michigan State athletics is in a transitional and transformative period is an understatement.
It might be the most critical juncture for the school since the 1940s, when John Hannah, Ralph Young and Biggie Munn angled to get the Spartans into the Big Ten.
With college sports at a crossroad between their altruistic past and big-money present, MSU’s new athletic director J Batt arrives from Georgia Tech with a task list that will require a sharpened sense of prioritizing from a host of major needs to move the Spartans back to the forefront in the future.Batt will be publicly introduced during a news conference at 3 p.m. Wednesday, June 4. His contract is expected to be approved by MSU’s Board of Trustees at their next meeting June 13 in Traverse City.
But as Batt begins his job in East Lansing the week of June 16, there will be a litany of tasks on his agenda before the 2025-26 school year begins Aug. 25, with the football season kicking off four days later. Here is a list of five critical things on the to-do list for MSU’s 21st athletic director (and the school’s first outside hire to the position in 30 years)
