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J Batt still heading to Kentucky, which owes $5M buyout with Guskiewicz staying at MSU

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J Batt still heading to Kentucky, which owes M buyout with Guskiewicz staying at MSU


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Weeks of waiting have paid off for Michigan State, to the tune of $2.5 million.

The reversal of President Kevin Guskiewicz’s decision to leave for Clemson means Kentucky will owe the full $5 million contract buyout for poaching athletic director J Batt last month. A clause in Batt’s contract had cut that buyout in half if Guskiewicz left before him, but Guskiewicz’s decision to stay after all leaves Kentucky with the full buyout.

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Guskiewicz, 60, had accepted the presidency of Clemson University in South Carolina after two years on the job at Michigan State. Three weeks later, athletic director J Batt also took a new job at Kentucky, which will pay him nearly $3 million per year on a six-year term sheet signed June 17.

As of Monday, Michigan State’s athletic director position is still occupied by Batt, 44, whose departure date for Kentucky is still to be determined. It is still expected that Batt will depart for Kentucky, and with that Michigan State will still need to hire a new athletic director. 

Monday afternoon, Kentucky President Eli Capilouto confirmed Batt will still leave Michigan State for Kentucky, posting a statement on X that, “J Batt and I spoke this afternoon and he has reinforced his commitment to UK and his excitement about joining the Big Blue Nation as soon as possible. We are working quickly to finalize his start date and his family is eager to join our community as well.”

However, Michigan State will embark on its athletic director search with a $5 million sum from Kentucky aiding its search.

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Buyout sum opens up Michigan State’s options for AD hire

Michigan State made an aggressive move when it hired J Batt away from Georgia Tech. It signed him to a six-year, $12.6 million contract in June 2025 that ranked Batt in the top 10 nationally in base salary. Michigan State also paid his $2 million buyout at previous school Georgia Tech on top of that contract. Now, a little over a year later, Michigan State must repeat that process all over again.

Contractually, athletic directors are on the hook for liquidated buyouts, assessed as damages for ending a contract early. In practice, however, this is almost exclusively paid for by the hiring institution. Usually buyouts are scaled by contract length, with more expensive sums in the early years of a contract and cheaper costs to depart later on.

A $5 million buyout is on the high end of the spectrum, reflective of Batt’s departure early in the second contract year of his tenure.

If Michigan State wanted to poach Michigan’s Warde Manuel, for example, the cost would be twice his base salary, which amounts to $3.8 million. The latest contract for Western Michigan athletic director Dan Bartholomae lists a liquidated buyout of $5.1 million until 2027.

Gaining $5 million for Batt’s departure gives Michigan State with a strong sum to hire Batt’s replacement. If the school uses the whole sum toward a new candidate, it could have its pick of the litter, so to speak.

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It could also choose to bank that money and hire someone outside of another university. It could look internally, particularly at executive deputy athletics director Jon Palumbo, who is the CEO of new fundraising arm Spartan Ventures. Or it could tap someone outside of the NCAA realm, such as former athletic director Mark Hollis, who has thrown his name in the ring. He resigned in 2018 after spending a decade as athletic director.

cearegood@detroitnews.com

@ConnorEaregood



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Michigan

AAA: Michigan gas prices fall below $4 per gallon

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AAA: Michigan gas prices fall below  per gallon


Michigan drivers are getting some much welcomed relief at the gas pump as the cost for regular unleaded has fallen below $4 for the first time since April.

Michigan gas prices went down 14 cents since last week, with a gallon of unleaded fuel costing an average of $3.96. The price is about 25 cents less than drivers were paying last month, but still around 80 cents more than Michiganders paid this time last year, according to AAA.

For a 15-gallon tank of gas, that equates to an average of $59 to fill up — an increase of about $8 from 2025’s highest price reported in August.

In Metro Detroit, average daily gas prices decreased to $4.01 — or about 13 cents less than last week’s average but still 81 cents more than the same time last year.

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The most expensive averages reported by AAA were in Ann Arbor ($4.05), Metro Detroit ($4.01), and Lansing ($3.97), with the least expensive averages reported in Marquette ($3.62), Traverse City ($3.90), and Flint ($3.91).

Domestic gasoline supply decreased from 216.3 million barrels to 214 million, according to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), while gasoline demand increased from 8.73 million barrels per day to 9.21 million. Gasoline production increased last week, averaging 10 million barrels per day.

Daily national, state, and metro gas price averages can be found at Gasprices.aaa.com.

Copyright 2026 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit – All rights reserved.



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Rain chances linger into Monday across Southeast Michigan

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Rain chances linger into Monday across Southeast Michigan


Scattered rain will stay in the forecast tonight into early Monday before drier weather arrives

Rain chances this week for Southeast Michigan (WDIV)

4Warn Weather – A system moving through the Ohio Valley will continue to bring rain chances to Southeast Michigan tonight into midday Monday.

Rain this evening will be scattered, and although a few rumbles of thunder can’t be ruled out, severe weather is not expected.

What radar could look like 10pm Sunday (WDIV)

Rain chances continue overnight with low temperatures falling to the mid 60s.

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Forecasted low temps tonight (WDIV)

Isolated rain will linger into midday Monday.

What radar could look like 8am Monday (WDIV)

We’ll see more sun Monday afternoon and evening with highs in the lower 80s.

Skies will be mostly sunny Tuesday and Wednesday. Highs Tuesday will be near 85° before a bump in the heat Wednesday.

Southeast Michigan will have elevated heat stress levels Wednesday with highs near 90° (WDIV)

Highs Wednesday and Thursday will be closer to 90° before we fall back to the lower 80s Friday.

Southeast Michigan will have the chance for rain Thursday and Friday.

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Fifth Third, Comerica merger: What Michigan customers need to know

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Fifth Third, Comerica merger: What Michigan customers need to know


DETROIT – A major banking merger is reshaping the financial landscape in Michigan — and customers need to take action before the changes take effect.

Fifth Third Bank completed its acquisition of Comerica, and beginning Sept. 8, Comerica customers will transition onto Fifth Third’s systems. The switch affects everything from mobile banking to direct deposits.

What Comerica customers need to do

Steve Davis, regional market president for Michigan, said the transition is designed to be straightforward for most customers.

“For the most part, what our customers are going to need to do is on September 8th, they’re going to log in to the Fifth Third app or their website, create a new user ID, a new password, and they’re good to go,” Davis said. “Their debit card, their ATM, their direct deposit information, all their ACHs — that’s all going to transfer over for them.”

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To help customers prepare, welcome packets will be mailed in August walking through every step of the process. The bank says it is also staffing up to handle an expected surge in questions.

“It’s an all hands on deck to make sure that we can exceed customer expectations,” Davis said.

Customers looking for additional information can visit Fifth Third’s Better Together page.

Branch closures, but more options overall

The $10.9 billion all-stock deal — finalized in October — comes with significant changes to the branch network. More than 70 locations are slated to close as part of the merger.

The bank says it is working to relocate affected employees or help them find other opportunities. And while the closures mark a loss for some communities, Davis says the combined network ultimately gives customers more options.

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“If you’re in the tri-county of Southeast Michigan — like Livingston, Macomb, Wayne, etc., we’re going to be number one in terms of branches there,” Davis said. “In the City of Detroit, we’re going to be number one in terms of branches there, so for our customers on average it’s a much better thing than a worse thing.”

Will Comerica Park be renamed?

Perhaps no question has captured more public attention than the fate of Comerica Park — the downtown Detroit ballpark that is home to the Detroit Tigers.

Could it become Fifth Third Park? That answer isn’t ready yet.

“We’re evaluating everything — we’ll decide something in the offseason,” Davis said. “It’s really cool that people care so much about Comerica Park and what it’s meant to them.”

Copyright 2026 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit – All rights reserved.

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