Coaching Career
The stint at Montana was the first for Jud as head coach of a college varsity program. Previously, he had coached at West Valley High School in Spokane for 14 seasons, and at Washington State 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 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 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.
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