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 | West Valley HS (WA) |
| 1964–1971 | Washington State (assistant) |
| 1971–1976 | Montana |
| 1976–1995 | Michigan State |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 419–274 (college) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
|
1 NCAA Division I Tournament Championship (1979) 2 Big Sky (1975–1976) 3 Big Ten (1978–1979, 1990) |
|
| Awards | |
|
1 NABC Coach of the Year (1990) 2 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 the 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.
Heathcote was born in Harvey, North Dakota, to Marion Grant Heathcote and Fawn (Walsh) Heathcote. Two years after his father died in a 1930 diphtheria epidemic, he was sent to live with his maternal grandparents in Manchester, Washington, and lived there for the rest of his childhood.
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.
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