In what must be viewed as a major win for the university amidst a turbulent summer, on Monday Kevin Guskiewicz stated that he would continue to serve as Michigan State’s president. This comes over a month after announcing his planned departure for the same role at Clemson University, citing an unworkable situation with MSU’s Board of Trustees.
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Justin Thind and the State News were among the first outlets to report Guskiewicz’s change of heart, with Thind writing that five board members, major donors, and men’s basketball coach Tom Izzo helped convince Guskiewicz to stay.
While this group worked extremely hard to retain Guskiewicz, they apparently did not apply the same effort to athletic director J Batt, who announced his departure for Kentucky shortly after Guskiewicz’s initial decision to leave. In the same article, Thind reported that Batt was not given the option to return to MSU.
Batt is still listed as the AD in MSU’s staff directory, even though his bio had been previously removed from the athletic department site, while also appearing in Kentucky’s online directory.
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A little over a week ago we wondered why Michigan State had yet to name an interim athletic director following Batt’s announced departure and speculated if Deputy AD, and Spartan Ventures CEO, Jon Palumbo or perhaps former Spartans AD Mark Hollis might get the nod, at least on an interim basis.
However, according to Jacob Cotsonika of MSU Spartans on SI, because Guskiewicz and Batt have not left MSU, the university was not able to name an interim AD or President.
Additionally, as Steve pointed out, Batt’s $5 million buyout would have been cut in half if Guskiewicz were no longer president. Batt may have been pulling double duty in an attempt to save Kentucky $2.5 million.
This now becomes a moot point while Guskiewicz’s decision to stay also raises several questions regarding the AD role:
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Will Michigan State politely but quickly escort Batt to the door, and pocket $5 million from Kentucky?
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Will Guskiewicz name an AD on an interim basis?
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Or does he already have someone in mind for the permanent title?
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Will Palumbo get the nod, due to his work with Spartan Ventures?
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Is there any chance that Hollis returns in some capacity – either temporarily or permanently – despite his lack of ties to Guskiewicz?
Regardless, hopefully Guskiewicz’s decision to remain at the helm leads back to the university-wide alignment that football coach Pat Fitzgerald spoke of in his introductory press conference as a reason for being drawn to MSU.
While MSU’s next steps regarding an AD will hopefully soon become clear, one thing that remains obvious and can’t be overstated is Izzo’s immense importance to the university.
When Guskiewicz initially announced the move to Clemson, Izzo spoke highly of him, calling Guskiewicz one of the best presidents MSU ever had. Izzo expressed his frustration and disappointment over the loss of MSU’s leader. He called on Spartans to stand together during this time and then apparently played a major role in Guskiewicz changing course to remain in East Lansing.
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Izzo made Michigan State an elite basketball program and maintained the Spartans’ place among the nation’s best. More than that, Izzo is perhaps most proud of the culture that has developed in East Lansing, where past players come back and remain involved in the program.
He has spurned offers from the NBA to remain here. According to Jeremy Fears, Izzo will likely lead MSU basketball for a while.
Izzo, however, is not just about MSU basketball – he is about the whole university. Sadly, this may have been most evident when he spoke to the Spartan community after a tragic campus shooting in 2023.
Now he apparently helped broker a deal to keep Guskiewicz, sparing the university a months-long leadership void.
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Fans may lament Izzo’s unwillingness to dive head-first into the transfer portal or modernize his offense and that’s ok. It’s what fans and people who care about the program should be allowed to do. Hopefully we can do this while still appreciating what Izzo has done beyond basketball at MSU.
Michigan State likely would have struggled with a lengthy search for a new president if Guskiewicz hadn’t changed his mind. But it would have survived. It will survive too when Izzo ultimately steps down but, after the turn of events, this may be something Spartans should dread even more.
Instead of wondering what it will be like post Izzo, maybe we should ask, what would Michigan State be if Izzo was never here?
