The Michigan State family has lost a legend. Late Monday night the school announced that former basketball coach Jud Heathcote passed away at the age of 90 years old.
Heathcote coached the Spartans from 1976-1995, winning 339 games, including the school’s first National Championship in 1979. His teams made nine NCAA Tournament appearances and won three Big Ten titles.
While Heathcote was very successful during his time patrolling the bench, his greatest impact on the program might have been choosing Tom Izzo as his successor. Izzo was able to take the program even higher than Jud did, making it one of the elite college basketball programs in the country.