Jud Heathcote
| Jud Heathcote | |
|---|---|
| Sport(s) | Basketball |
| Biographical details | |
| Born |
May 27, 1927 Harvey, North Dakota |
| Playing career | |
| 1946–1949 | Washington State |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1950–1964 1964–1971 1971–1976 1976–1995 |
West Valley HS (WA) Washington State (assistant) Montana Michigan State |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 419–274 (college) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
|
Championships 1 NCAA Division I (1979) 2 Big Sky (1975–1976) 3 Big Ten (1978–1979, 1990) | |
|
Awards NABC Coach of the Year (1990) 2x Big Ten Coach of the Year (1978, 1986) | |
|
College Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 2009 | |
George Melvin "Jud" Heathcote (born May 27, 1927) is a former American basketball player and coach. He was a college basketball head coach for 24 seasons: five at University of Montana (1971–1976) and 19 at Michigan State University (1976–1995). Heathcote coached Magic Johnson during his two years at Michigan State, including the 1979 National Championship season.
Biography
Heathcote was born in Harvey, North Dakota, to Marion Grant Heathcote and Fawn (Walsh) Heathcote. Two years after his father died in a diphtheria epidemic of 1930, he was sent to live with his maternal grandparents in Manchester, Washington, where he lived the entire time he grew up.
Coaching career
The stint at Montana was the first for Heathcote as head coach of a college varsity program. Previously, he had coached at West Valley High School in Spokane, Washington for 14 seasons, and at Washington State University for seven years, five seasons as freshman coach and two seasons as frosh-varsity coach.
In the 1974-75 season at Montana, he led them to their first Big Sky Conference championship. The Grizzlies advanced to the NCAA Regionals, losing to eventual tournament champion UCLA.
Heathcote was then hired by Joseph Kearney to take on the head basketball coaching job at Michigan State in 1976 and began the most successful phase of his coaching career. In his third season at Michigan State, Heathcote guided the Spartans to the 1979 NCAA Championship. The Spartans, led by Magic Johnson, defeated the Larry Bird-led Indiana State Sycamores in the title game.
In his 19 years at Michigan State, the Spartans made nine NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship tournaments and three National Invitation Tournament (NIT) appearances. As a coach, Heathcote was particularly noted for his excellent defensive strategies on the court and was second to none in blocking the opposing team from penetrating to the hoop. Heathcote retired after the 1994-95 season, having won 418 games and lost 275, for a .603 winning percentage. He was succeeded by Tom Izzo, an associate head coach under Heathcote for Heathcote's final five seasons.
Coaching tree
Several of Heathcote's former assistants and players went onto successful head coaching jobs including:
- Tom Izzo, Michigan State
- Scott Skiles, Milwaukee Bucks
- Stan Joplin, Toledo
- Jim Brandenburg, Wyoming
- Mike Montgomery, Montana, Stanford, California
- Don Monson, Idaho, Oregon
- Mark Montgomery, Northern Illinois
- Brian Gregory, Georgia Tech
- Tom Crean, Indiana
Head coaching record
College
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montana Grizzlies (Big Sky Conference) (1971–1976) | |||||||||
| 1971–72 | Montana | 14–12 | 7–7 | T–4th | |||||
| 1972–73 | Montana | 13–13 | 7–7 | 4th | |||||
| 1973–74 | Montana | 19–8 | 11–3 | T–1st | |||||
| 1974–75 | Montana | 21–8 | 13–1 | 1st | NCAA Regional Fourth Place | ||||
| 1975–76 | Montana | 13–12 | 7–7 | 5th | |||||
| Montana: | 80–53 | 45–25 | |||||||
| Michigan State Spartans (Big Ten Conference) (1976–1995) | |||||||||
| 1976–77 | Michigan State | 12–15 | 9–9 | 6th | |||||
| 1977–78 | Michigan State | 25–5 | 15–3 | 1st | NCAA Elite Eight | ||||
| 1978–79 | Michigan State | 26–6 | 13–5 | 1st | NCAA Champions | ||||
| 1979–80 | Michigan State | 12–15 | 6–12 | 8th | |||||
| 1980–81 | Michigan State | 13–14 | 7–11 | 8th | |||||
| 1981–82 | Michigan State | 11–17 | 6–12 | T–7th | |||||
| 1982–83 | Michigan State | 17–13 | 9–9 | T–6th | NIT Second Round | ||||
| 1983–84 | Michigan State | 16–12 | 9–9 | 5th | |||||
| 1984–85 | Michigan State | 19–10 | 10–8 | T–5th | NCAA First Round | ||||
| 1985–86 | Michigan State | 23–8 | 12–6 | 3rd | NCAA Sweet Sixteen | ||||
| 1986–87 | Michigan State | 11–17 | 6–12 | 7th | |||||
| 1987–88 | Michigan State | 10–18 | 5–13 | 8th | |||||
| 1988–89 | Michigan State | 18–15 | 6–12 | T–8th | NIT Semifinal | ||||
| 1989–90 | Michigan State | 28–6 | 15–3 | 1st | NCAA Sweet Sixteen | ||||
| 1990–91 | Michigan State | 19–11 | 11–7 | T–3rd | NCAA Second Round | ||||
| 1991–92 | Michigan State | 22–8 | 11–7 | T–3rd | NCAA Second Round | ||||
| 1992–93 | Michigan State | 15–13 | 7–11 | T–8th | NIT First Round | ||||
| 1993–94 | Michigan State | 20–12 | 10–8 | T–4th | NCAA Second Round | ||||
| 1994–95 | Michigan State | 22–6 | 14–4 | 2nd | NCAA First Round | ||||
| Michigan State: | 339–221 | 181–161 | |||||||
| Total: | 419–274 | ||||||||
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National champion
Conference regular season champion
Conference tournament champion
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See also
References
- Autobiography: Heathcote, Jud; Ebling, Jack (October 7, 1995). Jud : A Magical Journey. Champaign, IL: Sagamore Publishing. ISBN 1-57167-016-5.
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