The University of Kentucky hired a new AD on Saturday, poaching an industry veteran from a Big Ten athletics program that's seemingly in free fall in most respects. The Wildcats, college basketball's biggest spender and a team that just landed the No. 6 recruit in the 2027 high school cycle, now have a new leader dictating which teams get what budgets.
Elsewhere, a seven-foot-three Italian center who was once on the Texas A&M Aggies' radar, not to mention Kentucky's, found a home in the Big East. The NBA was calling, but clearly, there wasn't a good enough offer from anyone to stay in the 2026 draft.
Let's take a look at the SEC's biggest hardwood headlines from Saturday:
Kentucky hires AD J Batt away from Michigan State
As Michigan State Spartans On SI was the first to report, J Batt is finalizing a deal with the University of Kentucky to become the Wildcats' next AD. Batt spent a little over one year with MSU before making a jump to another school with a prominent hoops program, which naturally takes away from its football team's NIL spend.
Batt was Georgia Tech's AD for three years before his short-term stay in East Lansing. The former North Carolina Tar Heels soccer goalkeeper will take over as the Kentucky football program integrates new head coach Will Stein, who just replaced Mark Stoops after 13 years in charge.
Now-former Michigan State University President Kevin Guskiewicz, who hired Batt, left to become Clemson University's 16th president in late May. It was only a matter of time before Batt followed suit and found a new home himself.
Villanova lands 7-foot-3 former Texas A&M, Kentucky target Luigi Suigo
On the recruiting trail, Luigi Suigo officially withdrew from NBA consideration with a commitment to Kevin Willard's Villanova Wildcats. Suigo once had strong interest from Texas A&M, but he never received an offer from the Aggies. Suigo chose Villanova over scholarship offers from the Illinois Fighting Illini, Indiana Hoosiers, and Purdue Boilermakers. It was a choice most have been expecting for weeks.
Per Storm The Paint's Kevin Connelly, Suigo didn't get offers from the Wildcats, St. John’s Red Storm, Duke Blue Devils, and UNC because of the risk of recruiting him and needing to replace him if the Italian big man stayed in the NBA draft pool. You have to imagine Texas A&M was also in that boat.
Last season, Suigo averaged 7.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, and a block in 18 minutes per game for KK Mega Superbet in the ABA League. Suigo averaged 9.1 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 2.1 blocked shots in seven games for Milan in the lower pro division in Italy, and averaged 13.5 points, 9.4 rebounds, and two blocks in eight games in U-18 play for the Italian national team during the 2024-25 season.
The lengthy Suigo (7'5'' wingspan) brings a Victor Wembanyama-esque, two-way gravity to the paint, with a similar work-in-progress shot that's nowhere near as far along as Wemby's. He'll be an intriguing prospect in the heart of Pennsylvania's historic Main Line this coming winter.
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