Jason "J" Batt understands the value of men's basketball at the University of Kentucky and said competing at a high level will continue to be paramount to the success of the athletics department.
"I think elite success in basketball is the expectation; that's been the expectation that's been the expectation that's been set and that's going to continue to be the expectation," the Kentucky athletics director said during a media roundtable in June.
Much like his predecessor, Mitch Barnhart, Batt wants other sports on campus to have success and compete for national championships.
"Ultimately, I think what is important here is that we can be successful across a lot of sports, but ultimately men's basketball has set the standard," he said. "We will have to drive more revenue and create winning football; that's important, in this day and age, to continue to drive revenue and then that ultimately you'll be able to help fund and continue to fund our sports at an extremely high level, for them to have broad-based success."
Batt played college soccer at North Carolina and was part of the school's NCAA national championship team in 2001, where he served as a backup goalie, and he has a special spot in his heart for non-revenue sports.
"I'm a hopeless romantic for the opportunity mission of college athletics," he said. "We are in the double bottom line business of providing life-changing opportunities for young people. Part of the way I like to think about it is the shift in college athletics: the prioritization of driving revenue is an evolution of tactics to protect the ultimate mission we've always been about.
"If you were to look at the spread of student athletes, the vast majority of them revolve in those non-revenue sports and that double bottom line. That opportunity quotient that we're able to provide is ultimately the same as it's been. What it takes to do that, the revenue you've got to drive through some of the other sports, that's different, but at the end of the day, the mission still exists."
Change has been in the spotlight this week, particularly involving fifth-year players and their eligibility. The focal point is where to draw the line when it comes to college eligibility and being a professional athlete.
The Southeastern Conference stated on Monday that players who leave and sign professional contracts "should not then be permitted to return to college competition." He added that speed of change has created issues across the board in college athletics.
"I think change has always been a constant, no matter what industry you're in, whether it's college sports, technology, healthcare, whatever it might be, change is constant. The speed of change in the last five years has been what has been really the differentiator," he said. "I think part of what has created so much pressure on the model of college athletics is that constant change, the speed of change."
He added that Kentucky has been ahead of the curve and adjusted to the changing landscape of college athletics.
"One of the great benefits of the Champions Blue structure is that as it continues to change, we will have the nimbleness to shift, change, adapt in a much quicker kind of quick way that maybe in the traditional college athletic setup not necessarily able to do," he said.
Kentucky's partnership with JMI Sports, Batt said, has also been beneficial.
"They're one of the leaders in college athletics and so we have a really good approach and a good team effort with them," he said. "I hope to be able to be an asset and work with them every day to continue to drive revenue, which ultimately, that revenue is super important to funding, to providing our coaches - we've got great coaches here - but providing our coaches and ultimately student athletes the resources they need to extend that championship standard."
Jason "J" Batt answers a question during a roundtable interview session on Tuesday. (Keith Taylor/Kentucky Today)
