Jud Heathcote arrived at Michigan State in 1976
as an unknown from the west coast and left
in 1995 as one of the most respected and admired
coaches not only in MSU history, but also
in college basketball.
A Syracuse, N. Y. native,
Heathcote came to MSU from the University
of Montana, where he had a career record
of 80-53 with two Big Sky Championships. It
took him just two seasons to return the Spartans
program to greatness. In 1977-78, his
team finished with a 25-5 overall record and
won the Big Ten title.
A year later, his 1978-79
squad captured the first NCAA National
Championship in school history along
with a Big Ten title. He also had the honor
of coaching one of the top duos in Spartan
history: Magic Johnson and Greg Kelser. Heathcote’s teams remained
in the top half of the Big Ten for most of
the 1980’s, before returning to the
top spot in 1990. Heathcote remained strong
to the end of his career, finishing second
in the Big Ten in his final season.
After
19 seasons, he retired in 1995
with a career mark of 340-220, including three
Big Ten Titles and one National Championship.
In 2001, Heathcote was honored by the National
Association of Basketball Coaches with the
Golden Anniversary Award for 50 years of service
to college basketball. He is also a 2001 inductee
to the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame.