New Michigan State AD J Batt on NCAA's big rule change: 'It's a good thing'

Even though J Batt won’t start his job officially for another week-plus, the new athletic director penned a letter to the Michigan State community to outline changes coming to college sports.

The school released a letter from Batt on Saturday, June 7, a little more than 12 hours after a landmark federal ruling paved the way for universities to begin directly paying its athletes. The former Georgia Tech AD, whose contract is expected to be approved Friday by the MSU Board of Trustees, begins his new duties the week of June 15.

Here is what Batt wrote to his new constituents:

Spartans,

This is a truly historic time for college athletics.

Last night, the House v. NCAA settlement was approved by U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken. With the approval, athletic departments will be able to directly share revenue (approximately $20.5 million) with student-athletes beginning July 1, 2025, launching a new era in college athletics.

This is a transformative change – a positive change. It's a good thing, first and foremost, for student-athletes, but also for college athletics as a model, and specifically for Michigan State athletics.

Opportunities have never been greater for student-athletes to benefit financially from their participation in college athletics. Michigan State is committed to distributing the full amount permitted to student-athletes. Beyond revenue sharing, scholarship limits have been removed, providing institutions the flexibility to provide more educational opportunities, and many of the other benefits previously provided to student-athletes will remain in place.

The settlement provides a stable future for the college athletics model, ensuring that the opportunities created by college athletics remain in place for years to come. A newly established entity, the College Sports Commission, has been created to ensure compliance with the new rules around roster limits, revenue sharing and student-athlete third-party NIL deals. It will help ensure fairness, transparency and integrity in college sports.

Furthermore, this transformative change provides opportunities for Michigan State athletics. Opportunities often require good timing, and the timing is excellent for MSU. This new era of college athletics will require additional resources and provide new challenges daily. The key to meeting those challenges will be alignment. With President Guskiewicz's leadership and the support of the Board of Trustees, and the entire Spartan family, we are well positioned not to survive change, but to take advantage of it, to take ground and move forward as we implement the settlement.

More will be required of all of us than it has in the past. We might be required to work harder or give more. But if everyone does their part, and pulls in the same direction, the opportunities for success will certainly be worth it.

I look forward to sharing more information with you in the near future.

For anyone looking to learn more about the House settlement, revenue sharing, or anything else about this new day in college athletics, I would encourage you to visit collegesportscommission.org.

Thank you for your incredible support of Michigan State athletics and our student-athletes.

Go Green!

J Batt

Michigan State University Vice President and Director of Athletics

WHAT'S COMING: New Michigan State AD J Batt's priority list: Make connections, build fundraising

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State AD J Batt in letter on NCAA changes: 'It's a good thing'