Mitch Barnhart’s UK tenure is finished, but J Batt’s start date is still unclear...

[WildcatWally-77]

So, who is in charge of UK Athletics and when does Batt actually start the job? While it has been more than two weeks since UK announced Batt as its next athletics director and the CEO of Champions Blue LLC, Batt remains an employee at Michigan State, an MSU spokesperson told the Herald-Leader on Wednesday. Batt’s final day at the university has yet to be determined. President (Eli) Capilouto and J Batt are working closely together to establish a start date for J as CEO of Champions Blue and athletics director,” a UK spokesman said in a statement provided to the Herald-Leader. When Batt officially resigns could have financial ramifications for Kentucky.
Guskiewicz announced in May he was leaving Michigan State for the president job at Clemson, but he has not actually left the school yet, either. Clemson has not finalized his start date, and Guskiewicz said after his hire was announced he did not anticipate beginning his new job until August, according to the Greenville Journal. Was the 50% reduction in Batt’s buyout triggered by Guskiewicz announcing his planned departure from Michigan State or does it not go into effect until Guskiewicz actually stops working there? Michigan State did not respond to multiple requests from the Herald-Leader to answer that question. Batt’s UK term sheet does not include a formal start date for his employment, instead saying his term will begin “on an effective date to be determined, but no earlier than July 2026.” Batt was not present for UK’s Board of Trustees athletics committee meeting this week, the first since his hire was announced.

 

[MdWIldcat55]

Repeat after me: Mitch Barnhart is gone, without the giant bag of cash he planned to steal. And that's a massive positive for the University of Kentucky

The rest is filling out paper work. Somebody had a story deadline at the Herald Leader and is inventing a giant Nothing Burger of an issue where none exists.

 

[Beatle Bum]

UK now has to pay the whole $5 million buyout, because Izzo got boosters to raise more cash to retain the MSU president. But, MSU seems to be okay with Batt moving on.

 

[CameronCat22]

Repeat after me: Mitch Barnhart is gone, without the giant bag of cash he planned to steal. And that's a massive positive for the University of Kentucky

The rest is filling out paper work. Somebody had a story deadline at the Herald Leader and is inventing a giant Nothing Burger of an issue where none exists.

Still lying per usual. He was gonna steal something that was in his contract? How exactly does that work? Funny how the people who lie nearly every time they speak have the nerve to question others integrity.

 

[gobigblue812_rivals29381]

Integrity? Nobody could figure out what he was going to actually get paid to do.

That's NOT Integrity.

 

[SenseMaker_Cats]

Integrity? Nobody could figure out what he was going to actually get paid to do.

That's NOT Integrity.

Accepting a job for a million a year to do nothing is totally on the up and up. There’s zero justification for it. It’s actually disgusting and you’re right, that’s the opposite of integrity.

Also, what I’m hearing through the grapevine is that Batt hasn’t started yet because of JMI.

 

[seccats04]

Still lying per usual. He was gonna steal something that was in his contract? How exactly does that work? Funny how the people who lie nearly every time they speak have the nerve to question others integrity.

A contract with no job description. Sounds legit.

 

[MdWIldcat55]

Still lying per usual. He was gonna steal something that was in his contract? How exactly does that work? Funny how the people who lie nearly every time they speak have the nerve to question others integrity.

LOL. So, Kentucky should have just given Mitch Barnhart $950,000 for the next five years, plus a $650,000 "retention" bonus to be "Executive In Residence" -- a totally made up job that consisted of, well, no one knows because it was never intended to be a real job, just a way to let Mitch siphon money out of the University of Kentucky?

I wonder why such a legitimate and useful contract to perform such a vital role came under so much public and political scrutiny that the governor himself got involved and forced it to be canceled? I guess just more misguided liars questioning Mitch's "integrity."

You must either be Mitch himself or one of the most gullible numbskulls on the planet if you think there was anything legitimate or useful to the University or the people of Kentucky in that putrid deal that was rightly exposed for what it was and killed in a public embarrassment for UK and Mitch.

 

[TFCat11]

Meh, having no AD is still better than having MB at the helm, all day, every day!

 

[rick64]

Is this BCG 2.0? UK doesn't have a signed contract?

 

[CB3UK]

Still lying per usual. He was gonna steal something that was in his contract? How exactly does that work? Funny how the people who lie nearly every time they speak have the nerve to question others integrity.

It wasn't in his contract. It was thrown in at the very last minute by Capiluto as an addendum, vetted by no one on the BoT, and was so absolutely egregious that even our governor had to publicly comment on how brazen it was. It was also rescinded because they knew they were caught red handed. If it was something that was a long standing contractual obligation it never even would have been in the public discourse, because no one would care about him receiving compensation negotiated and promised over 20 yrs ago. Maybe know WTH you're talking about before going on an ignorant rant about integrity.