The Michigan State family and the college basketball community lost a giant icon last August when former Spartans head coach Jud Heathcote passed away at the age of 90.
Heathcote spent the latter 19 of his 24 seasons as a college basketball coach at MSU, compiling 340 of his 420 career coaching wins with the Spartans. His eventual successor, current Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo, has continued the winning tradition in East Lansing. This season, the team plans to honor Heathcote in various ways.
ICYMI, Michigan State announced plans to honor Jud Heathcote: https://t.co/72UFQr5p5Y #Spartans
— Jeremy Warnemuende (@JSWarno) September 7, 2017
https://twitter.com/NABC1927/status/905821898524823553
This year’s team has been wearing patches on the jerseys throughout the season. In addition to the commemorative touch, Michigan State will also have a special tribute game to further honor Heathcote. The home game on February 10 against Purdue will include countless memories of honoring the former Spartans head coach as well as a reunion of some of his former players.
Izzo shared his thoughts on the news to honor his former boss throughout the season and is eagerly awaiting the February 10 tribute game.
“Jud might be gone, but he will live on as a part of our basketball program and our university as we dedicate the upcoming season to his memory,” MSU head coach Tom Izzo said in a statement. “Every time we take the court, the patches on the uniforms will remind us of the man who set a great foundation for anything we accomplish now.”
“I can’t wait for that Tribute Game against Purdue,” Izzo said. “I look forward to seeing so many of his former players paying their respect to a man to whom they owe so much. I know that weekend will involve amazing stories, laughter and tears. Jud had some great battles against the Boilermakers, and I’m hopeful that Gene Keady, one of his closest friends in the profession, will be able to join us for that game.”
As for the game itself, it will and should be one of the premier blockbuster games of the 2017-18 college basketball season. Both Purdue (23-3, 12-1 Big Ten) and Michigan State (23-3, 11-2 Big Ten) are among a collective group that is perceived as national title favorites through this point in the season.
Tomorrow's MSU-Purdue game will be the fourth in college basketball this year between AP Top 5 teams. MSU will have played in three of them.
— Kyle Austin (@kylebaustin) February 9, 2018
MSU has been largely propelled by the return of Miles Bridges for his sophomore season. Bridges leads the team in minutes per game (31.0) and points (17.7). Without question the biggest improvement in Bridges’ game this year has been his shooting, specifically at the free throw line. The Flint-native is knocking down 88.8 percent of his charity stripe attempts, more than a 20 percent uptick from his freshman campaign.
The Spartans will welcome in a Boilermakers team coming off loss that snapped a number of lengthy winning streaks. Most notably, it’s their first defeat since before Thanksgiving, a span of 19 games. Perhaps the biggest challenge for MSU will be limiting the Purdue law firm of (Carsen) Edwards & (Vincent) Edwards, as well as big 7-footer Isaac Haas.
The game is slated for Saturday, February 10 with a 4 p.m. ET tip-off on ESPN.
