Michigan State has apparently found its guy, and he didn't have to leave the state to find him. According to Pete Thamel, Western Michigan athletic director Dan Bartholomae is finalizing a deal to take over as Michigan State's next AD, capping a search that's dragged on since J Batt left for Kentucky earlier this year.
The resume is what makes this feel less like a reach and more like a no-brainer. Per Thamel's report, Bartholomae led Western Michigan to a hockey national championship and has the Broncos coming off a MAC title in football — a rare two-sport swing in the same window. He's also reportedly overseen record-breaking fundraising numbers at WMU, which happens to be the exact skill set that gets you a job like this in the current era of college athletics, where an AD's ability to move donor money often matters as much as wins and losses.
Bartholomae's name has been floating around Michigan State's search for a while. He took over at Western Michigan in January 2022 after five years as executive deputy AD at Oregon State, and this past summer he got a new contract from WMU that doubled his salary to at least $750,000 a year, according to the Detroit News — a deal that reportedly included buyout protections stretching into the millions if he left early. That kind of extension is usually a school's attempt to lock down a hot name before someone bigger comes calling. It didn't work.
Michigan State's AD chair has been empty since J Batt left after just one year on the job to become Kentucky's athletic director and CEO of its for-profit arm, Champions Blue. That departure stung, both for the timing and for what it signaled — a Power 4 program losing its top administrator to another Power 4 program barely 12 months in. Landing an AD with Bartholomae's fundraising track record and championship pedigree, without a bidding war for someone from outside the Big Ten footprint, would be a quick and clean answer to that problem.
There's also a football program under Jonathan Smith that needs stability and resources after a rough first season in East Lansing, and a basketball program that's used to Tom Izzo running things his way regardless of who's upstairs. Whoever takes this job inherits both of those relationships immediately. If the deal closes the way Thamel is describing it, Bartholomae walks into Michigan State with credibility built on actual titles at his old school — which is more than most incoming ADs can say.