Jud Heathcote led Magic, Michigan State to NCAA title

Jud Heathcote, who led Michigan State and Magic Johnson to the 1979 NCAA championship, has died. He was 90.

The school announced Heathcote died Monday in Spokane, Washington.

Spartans coach Tom Izzo was hired by Heathcote as a parttime assistant in 1983. With Heathcote’s support, Izzo was promoted to replace him when he retired in 1995.

“The basketball world is a sadder place today with the passing of Jud Heathcote,” Izzo said.

“No one cared more about the welfare of the game than Jud. He was a coach’s coach and a mentor to many.

“Our hearts are filled with sadness and deepest sympathy for his wife Beverly and the Heathcote family. Michigan State has lost one of its icons today. And yet, nothing can erase his impact on the program, the players he coached and the coaches he mentored. Spartan basketball is what it is today because of Jud Heathcote.”

Heathcote won 340 games, three Big Ten titles and appeared in nine NCAA tournaments during his 19-year career at Michigan State.

He was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009 along with Johnson and Larry Bird, whose Indiana State team lost to the Heathcote-led Spartans in the 1979 final.

The National Association of Basketball Coaches gave Heathcote the Golden Anniversary Award for 50 years of service in 2001, when he was also inducted into the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame.

Heathcote got his start in 1971 as a head coach in college at Montana, where he had an 80-53 record and won two Big Sky titles.

Izzo, a Basketball Hall of Famer, helped the Spartans win their second NCAA men’s basketball title in 2000.

He often leaned on Heathcote for advice, counsel and humour.