​It didn’t take Michigan State too long – or to look too far – to find its new athletic director.The school reportedly plans to hire current Western Michigan athletic director Dan Bartholomae to replace J Batt, who took the Kentucky job on June 15 and whose official last day at MSU was July 28.ESPN’s Pete Thamel first reported Monday, Aug. 17, that a deal was being finalized between Bartholomae and MSU.It is unclear what the start date will be for Bartholomae, who spent the past 4½ years in Kalamazoo and oversaw the Broncos’ NCAA hockey title in 2025. Sources: Western Michigan athletic director Dan Bartholomae is finalizing a deal to become the athletic director at Michigan State. He’s led WMU to a national title in hockey and the school is coming off a MAC title in football. He’s led the school to record-breaking… pic.twitter.com/YxpfbCyDMj— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) August 17, 2026Contract and buyout details were not immediately available; Bartholomae received a contract extension at WMU last August that runs through June 30, 2031, and pays Bartholomae more than $750,000 annually.WMU was Bartholomae’s first top AD position after the 46-year-old Indiana graduate spent the previous five years (2017-22) as executive deputy AD at Oregon State. He also worked for the Pittsburgh athletic department, his hometown university, for 15 years in a variety of roles, including deputy AD for internal affairs, after getting his MBA from the school in 2002.TRENDING: MSU’s Cam Edwards emerges as Pat Fitzgerald tries to revive run gameBartholomae has a number of ties to the Spartans’ past coaches.He helped oversee football both at Pitt, where former MSU defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi has been since 2015, and at Oregon State, where former coach Jonathan Smith was prior to coming to East Lansing. At WMU, Bartholomae hired former Tom Izzo assistant coach Dwayne Stephens to run the Broncos’ men’s basketball program in April 2022; he also fired Stephens in March this year.Bartholomae also helped WMU build its new $515 million basketball and hockey arena that is scheduled to open in 2027, crucial experience in overseeing a major facilities project and acquiring funding as Spartan Stadium has been approved for $500 million renovations by MSU’s Board of Trustees.Jon Palumbo, who was hired by Batt as an executive deputy athletic director/chief operating officer and serves as the Spartan Ventures CEO, took over as MSU’s interim AD on July 10.MSU President Kevin Guskiewicz lured Batt away from Georgia Tech last spring, but Batt quickly found a new home less than three weeks after Guskiewicz announced May 27 he would be leaving MSU to take the president position at Clemson. However on July 6, Guskiewicz reversed course and opted to remain as MSU’s president.One of Batt’s first moves when he arrived at MSU was to hire Palumbo away from Georgia Tech. It is unclear if Palumbo will remain at MSU or leave, potentially to again follow Batt to Kentucky.This i