Taking one last look at the Mitch Barnhart era with Kentucky as it comes to an end

Kentucky Athletics' has had a seriously eventful summer, although most of the antics were expected. the men's and women's basketball programs always cause a stir on the recruiting front, while Will Stein's first offseason at the helm for Kentucky Football has yielded tons of excitement and a dozen and one compelling stories ahead of the fall.

One of the msot unexpected elements of this year, though, was the controversial retirement rollout for Mitch Barnhart. Today, after 24 years as the athletic director in Lexington, Barnhart's tenure comes to an official end.

It's a bittersweet initial feeling that quickly gives way to relief; Barnhart was far from all bad, but especially in his last few years, the need for a change became painfully clear. Still, it's worth revisiting the final stretch for a man who called the shots for blue and white sports for as long as most of us can remember.

That includes, of course, the replacement that was already hired ahead of this day.

The Good and Bad of Mitch Barnhart

Barnhart's most recent claim to fame comes in the form of Stein's hiring; given the football team's success on the recruiting trail this summer, him pulling the trigger on the Mark Stoops firing as a sort of final show of authority already looks like a move worthy of praise.

But looking further back, most will probably point to John Calipari - specifically his earlier days - as Barnhart's biggest win. Regardless of how that era eventually turned out, bringing a national champion to the men's hoops program was, and still is, a massive deal. Kudos there.

Yet between the controversial lifetime contract that was granted (we now know) prematurely to Calipari and Barnhart's more recent post-retirement position that was quickly torn apart from the outside, his ride into the sunset wasn't entirely clean.

When the governor of Kentucky got involved in questioning the latter, that's how we knew it got bad. What a wild, weird corner of the university's athletic history we'll never forget.

A Worthy Successor to Barnhart

All the same, we can be happy for what he did manage to accomplish during his time as athletic director, and in J Batt, Kentucky certainly seems to have found a worthy successor.

Batt has become extremely well known in the world of college athletics for his ability to raise money and make good, long-term hires both. Just look at Nate Oats' continued success at Alabama; Crimson Tide fans have Batt to thank for that, and now, the cutting edge athletic director has found a home with the Wildcats.

It helps that 'The Battman' is maybe the coolest nickname to ever exist. Farewell, Mitch Barnhart - Gotham City has a new protector (and financial liaison).

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