SPORTS

Mansch: Jud Heathcote likes his Spartans on Saturday

Scott Mansch
smansch@greatfallstribune.com

It's been nearly 40 years since Jud Heathcote lived in Missoula and coached the Montana Grizzlies with distinction.

He spent five years at UM, then in 1976 moved on to a great coaching run with the Michigan State Spartans that included a national championship. Heathcote retired from coaching in 1995 and saw to it that longtime assistant Tom Izzo became the new head coach.

That has turned out pretty well for Michigan State fans, who are anticipating another Final Four appearance on Saturday in Indianapolis. Count the 87-year-old Heathcote among them. He lives in Spokane these days and, despite some physical frailties, retains his positive outlook and exceptional sense of humor.

In fact, a phone visit Tuesday revealed that old Jud is less a retired coach than a working comedian. Talk about a 30-minute conversation brightening the day. This one did.

And it started with an introduction and explanation that the guy calling him has worked in Great Falls for nearly 30 years.

"You don't have to apologize for that," Jud said.

Rim shot.

He's having a good week, all right. But he's not making plans to go to the Final Four.

"No. I'm at the point that I just can't travel," he said. "I'm on a walker or a cane, and any distance eliminates my going anyplace. So I'll be watching on TV like everyone else.

"I'd like to be there. Tom even talked about sending out a private plane, and I said 'Hell, I can't fly a plane. So don't come.'"

Bada boom.

He was asked what condition his condition is in.

"Oh, I'm feeling good," he said with a laugh. "I just say can't see, can't pee, can't walk … But I can still talk."

Bada bing.

We asked about his North Dakota roots.

"Yes, Harvey, North Dakota," he said. Then he paused.

"They named the outhouse after me there."

And so on and so forth.

Anyway, when Jud was 3 he lost his father and left North Dakota to live with relatives in Washington state. Though it's been a few years, Missoula remains a fond memory.

"It was my first college job as a head coach. We had three kids and they were very comfortable in the school system. My wife loved Missoula and so did I. We liked the people," he said. "We always make the comment that in our later life we go home at 9 or 10. And in Montana, the party was just starting."

Which, as we know, is true. Especially if a Big Dance is involved. Like 40 years ago.

Heathcote led the Grizzlies to the 1975 NCAA tournament and in the regional semifinals Montana nearly pulled off the impossible dream. The Griz took coach John Wooden's eventual national champions, a team that included future NBA standouts Marques Johnson, Dave Meyers and Richard Washington, to the wire before falling 67-64.

Eric Hays scored 32 for Montana in an unforgettable performance. Former Grizzly guard Robin Selvig was a first-year assistant coach that year. Now, of course, Selvig is a legendary coach himself of the Montana Lady Griz.

"I call Robin a couple of times a year," Jud said. "You know, I really don't like Robin because I offered him my assistant's job at Michigan State twice and I didn't like what he said. He said he wasn't coming."

Jud laughed.

"I've always thought the world of Robin and the job he's done," he said. "He's had a fabulous record. I think he's going after Pat Summitt's 1,000 wins or something and is going to coach until he's 100."

He laughed again.

Hays is the former highly successful Missoula Hellgate head boys' basketball coach who is now an assistant to his son, Jeff, with the Knights.

"You know, we brought Eric to Michigan State my first year there. As a graduate assistant to get his master's degree," Jud said. "So he started there the same time that I did."

Jud's memory of that battle with UCLA is still crystal clear.

"There were 30 seconds left in the game and we're one point behind with the ball," he said. "Eric is at the head of the key and he goes up for a shot. He scored 32 points so they were very aware who was getting the shot. So two of their guys charged him and (Grizzly forward) Larry Smedley was under the basket all by himself. Eric dropped the ball off to Smedley, but he had already turned to get rebounding position and the ball went out of bounds."

What happened afterward was just as memorable.

"I loved John Wooden's comment to the media," Jud said. "He says. 'I don't want anybody in this room to ask me how bad we played. I want you all to concentrate on how well Montana played.' I thought that was a pretty good statement for John."

Jud coached five season at Montana, with a record of 80-53. His Grizzlies won two Big Sky Conference championships. He then spent 19 years at Michigan State, winning three Big 10 titles and the 1979 national championship when the Magic Johnson-led Spartans defeated Larry Bird's Indiana State Sycamores in the finale.

He maintains relationships with many of his players.

"I always used to see Magic at the NCAA Tournament games when I was following Michigan State, but now I have not done that the last four years because of traveling," he said. "In fact I tried to call Magic (Monday night), and you get a secretary, then you get somebody else, and then you tell them who you are and you get cut off."

Jud chuckled.

"I haven't talked to him for awhile, but I'm gonna get him before this tournament's over. Ask him if he's going to all the games so he can coach again, or what."

Back in the day, Jud didn't call his superstar "Magic."

"I called him E," he said. "I didn't feel comfortable calling one of my players Magic. After all, I thought I was the magic guy."

Another laugh.

"Well, 'Earvin' was always hard to say," Jud said. "So I started calling him 'E'. And believe it or not, in all his time with the Lakers, he had two names. Half the guys called him 'E' and the other half called him 'Buck.' No one called him Earvin or Magic."

Tom Izzo, of course, is in the Spartan spotlight this week.

"I'm so proud of Tom," Jud said. "I tell people: You know, I did two things for Michigan State in my 19 years there. I recruited Magic Johnson. And I got Tom Izzo hired as my successor. Now most people think the first was most important, but I think now people realize the second accomplishment was more important."

Izzo's penchant for recruiting coach's sons has received much attention in the Big Dance. It was advice he received from Jud.

"Tom now has two of them, (Travis) Trice and (Denzel) Valentine," Jud said. "Denzel's dad, Carlton Valentine, played for me at Michigan State."

Jud's coaching career took him from Spokane, where he was a high school coach, to Pullman, Wash., where he served as an assistant to Marv Harshman, to Missoula and finally to East Lansing, Mich.

He said all four cities are top-notch spots to live.

"We really enjoyed Missoula. And when you win more games than you lose, that's a plus, too," he said.

The UM coaching tree, of course, continues to sprout successful men. Larry Krystkowiak led Utah to the NCAA Tournament this season and Wayne Tinkle raised eyebrows when the Oregon State Beavers surpassed expectations in his first year on the job.

"It's kind of been a stepping stone," Jud said. And then he chuckled.

"But folks would say to me, 'What do you mean? Montana's a great job.' You know the funny thing is, though, you talk to Mike Montgomery, you talk to Jim Brandenburg, you talk to Blaine Taylor, or Stew Morrill … And they say 'A lot of people didn't think I could coach until I moved to a different place. And they were always comparing me to you.' And the funny thing is, every one of those guys had a better record than I did. But they didn't quite get the recognition as good coaches … Montana, it's sure been a breeding ground for top-flight coaches."

With two Big 10 teams in this weekend's Final Four, obviously this is a great time for an ex-coach from the conference.

"That's good, but I wanted Gonzaga in there too," said Jud. "We're great Zag fans here. We go to all the home games. When we retired and moved here, my old assistant coach Don Monson said we'd better buy season tickets. Well, we bought them right away and I claim that's the best investment we ever made."

We couldn't let the legendary coach off the hook without a prediction for this weekend.

"I think somehow the Spartans are going to get it done against Duke, even though (Mike) Krzyzewski seems to have the whammy on Tom," Jud said. "You know, they've played nine times and Duke has won eight of 'em. I think it's Michigan State's turn," he said. "I watched Kentucky early in the year a number of times and I said 'No one can beat that team.' And so far they haven't. But they've had two overtime games and a 2-point game with LSU and a two-point game last week, so maybe they're beatable. But I think they're still a class above the others.

"So I'm predicting a Kentucky win over Wisconsin and a Kentucky win in the finals."

This, we said, is no laughing matter. We told Jud of our own Big Ten heritage, of how my father moved our family from his small Minnesota hometown to Milwaukee and then 10 years later moved us back.

"Now I don't want to comment," said Jud, "but how could your Dad leave Minnesota, and then go back to Minnesota? I mean nobody does that."

His laugh was just as loud as 25 minutes before.

Well, we told him, my Dad was the greatest guy in the world. And maybe sentimental about his hometown. We figure he would have liked Bo Ryan.

"Bo Ryan," Jud said, "really deserves a national championship. He's been a great coach for years and is a good guy and does it the right way, uses a lot of Wisconsin kids and so he's the sentimental favorite.

"But it's still talent that wins."

Perhaps the competitive level on display Saturday in Indianapolis will be no laughing matter. But for all basketball fans, this is a week worth smiling about.

The great Jud Heathcote realizes as much. And isn't that tremendous?

Scott Mansch is Tribune Sports Columnist and has covered prep, college and pro sports for the newspaper for nearly 30 years. He can be reached at 791-1481 or smansch@greatfallstribune.com. Follow him on Twitter @GFTrib_SMansch