Jud Heathcote

George Melvin "Jud" Heathcote (May 27, 1927 – August 28, 2017) was an American basketball player and coach. He was a college basketball head coach for 24 seasons: five at the University of Montana and nineteen at Michigan State University Heathcote coached Magic Johnson during his two years at Michigan State, concluding with the 1979 national championship season. He also coached the University of Montana to a national handball championship in 1974.

Early years Born in Harvey, North Dakota, to Marion Grant Heathcote and Fawn (Walsh), Heathcote's father was a coach, but died in a 1930 diphtheria epidemic. His mother was a teacher and moved to live with her parents in Manchester, Washington, west of Seattle. and after a year in the Navy V-5 program as ended, he enrolled at Washington State College in Pullman and played basketball for the Cougars under head coach

Heathcote was hired by Joseph Kearney at Michigan State in April 1976 and began the most successful phase of his coaching career. In his third season in East Lansing, he guided the Spartans to the NCAA championship. Led on the court by sophomore Magic Johnson, MSU defeated the Larry Bird-led Indiana State Sycamores in the title game in nowrap|Salt Lake City.

On August 28, 2017, Heathcote died at the age of 90. "Michigan State has lost one of its icons today," current MSU basketball coach Tom Izzo said in a statement. "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." MSU's official record for the 1976–77 season is 12–15, 9–9 though they finished the season 10–17, 7–11.^Due to NCAA sanctions against Wisconsin for providing improper benefits for players, MSU's official record for the 1981–82 season is 12–16, 7–11 though they finished the season 11–17, 6–12. The official record for the 1983–84 seasonal is 16–12, 9–9 though they finished the season 15–13, 8–10