It appears Michigan State has zeroed in on a few finalists for the open athletic director role, with one report on Sunday suggesting there’s a front-runner for the job.
Tony Paul of The Detroit News posted on social media early on Sunday morning that Georgia Tech director of athletics J Batt has “emerged” in the Spartans’ search for the same position. Batt has been at Georgia Tech for two years, where he has had a lot of success in fundraising and is known as a “big basketball guy” according to Paul.
Somewhat conflicting with Paul’s report, a few hours later Justin Thind of 247Sports reported that Michigan State is at the “shortlist of finalists” stage, with “no singular candidate being the focus above the rest at this point.” Thind’s report came roughly six hours after Paul posted on social media platform X, so one can believe this note from Thind was from following up on Paul’s initial report.
Thind did add in an additional post on X that Batt is “one of the finalists” so there appears to be some clear interest in Batt from Michigan State.
Michigan State parted ways with Haller earlier this month after a nearly four-year run. Haller’s final day at Michigan State was May 11.
It’ll be interesting to see if a decision is coming soon for the Spartans. Both Paul and Thind’s reporting would suggest Michigan State is close to making a hire and at this point in the process they are now just finalizing who that person will be.
Stay with Spartans Wire for additional coverage on Michigan State’s search for its next athletic director.
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