Hall of Fame
When Jud Heathcote guided the 1978-79 Michigan State men’s basketball team to the NCAA championship, few people associated with Washington State were surprised. A Cougar graduate who spent three seasons as a student-athlete playing for Jack Friel, Heathcote earned his coaching credentials as a seven-year assistant under Marv Harshman. His first head coaching job came at Montana, prior to the 1971-72 season. After five seasons in Missoula, Heathcote took over the bench at Michigan State. In 19 years with the Spartans, his teams made nine NCAA Championship appearances and earned three NIT bids. He won over 60 percent of his games and amassed over 400 victories as a collegiate varsity coach. An assistant coach for the United States at the 1975 Pan Am Games, Heathcote is a member of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, the State of Washington Sports Hall of Fame, the Inland Northwest Sports Hall of Fame, the Montana Athletic Hall of Fame and the Michigan State Athletic Hall of Fame.
