EAST LANSING - Michigan State lost one of its most recognizable, accomplished, respected and influential figures on Monday when former basketball coach Jud Heathcote passed away in his sleep at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, Wash., after a series of health issues.

Heathcote was 90.

Heathcote served as head coach at Michigan State from 1976 to 1995. He had a record of 340-220, giving him the second-most wins in Spartan history. He was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009.

Heathcote coached Michigan State to the 1979 National Championship, culminated by a victory over Indiana State in a game that is still the most-watched college basketball game in history.

“The basketball world is a sadder place today with the passing of Jud Heathcote,” said Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo. “No one cared more about the welfare of the game than Jud. He was a coach’s coach and a mentor to many. Our hearts are filled with sadness and deepest sympathy for his wife Beverly and the Heathcote family.”

Heathcote pushed for Izzo to be named his successor-in-waiting in the mid-1990s. Heathcote predicted that the program would flourish after he retired, due in part to Izzo’s increased emphasis on recruiting. Izzo has praised Heathcote for helping form him into the coach he has become today.

Under Heathcote’s guidance and influence, Michigan State has had only two head coaches in the past 42 years and has become one of the blue bloods of college basketball, with two National Championships, and eight Final Fours during that span.

“Without a doubt, he was one of the most influential people in my life, giving me a chance when no one else would,” Izzo said. “Any coaching success I’ve ever had is because of him. Long after he left Michigan State, he was still one of the first people I would call when I had a tough decision in coaching or life.”

Cranky on the sidelines but hilarious in front of a microphone, Heathcote had the sense of humor, timing and delivery that could rival any stand-up comedian. He wielded his wit with biting sarcasm that would put his players, assistant coaches, bosses and friends on the defensive, and somehow made them like it, and love him for it. Most of all, he made them accountable - and he did so with a knowledge of the game that was matched be precious few in any era. He was one of the few in the profession that Bob Knight openly admired and respected.

Heathcote had a scintillating run of success with the Magic Johnson/Greg Kelser team of the late 1970s, advancing to the Elite Eight in 1978 before going all the way the following year.

He had a pair of runs to the Sweet 16 in 1986 with Scott Skiles and 1990 with Steve Smith. Both Regional Semifinal losses were marred by controversial clock errors that might have cost Heathcote a shot at an additional Final Four.

Heathcote retired to his home state of Washington in 1995, with his wife Beverly, but remained active in the sport.

Heathcote attended the Final Four for 38 straight years, and emceed the annual National Association of Basketball Coaches past presidents luncheon at the Final Four for more than two decades.

"It was known as 'Jud's party,' and it became Final Four folklore," said former Michigan State assistant and current South Florida head coach Brian Gregory. "He'd get up in front of everyone and tell a bunch of jokes, holding court for high school, junior college and big-time coaches. They all came to see him. The younger coaches would just be in awe of how he could command a room with that many coaches in it."

Heathcote watched Izzo’s teams religiously on television, and often made a habit of calling Izzo’s office at various checkpoints of the season, sometimes with advice, but always with a biting back-handed comment of some sort that Izzo laughingly would share with media.

Heathcote made a habit of meeting with Izzo during NCAA Tournament runs. He watched the Spartans play in Seattle in 2004, and in Spokane in 2010 and 2013. He sat in the stands, near the Michigan State bench, for six of Izzo’s seven Final Fours. Izzo often brought Heathcote into the film room for strategy sessions during the NCAA Tournament, early in Izzo’s tenure. Health issues prevented Heathcote from attending the 2015 Final Four in Indianapolis, but he remained a confidante, guardian and symbol of the program long after he retired.

“Michigan State has lost one of its icons today,” Izzo said. “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.”

Despite his universally-respected coaching ability, Heathcote’s teams failed to make the NCAA Tournament eight times in the 1980s. He operated against the mainstream recruiting tactics of the day, and was regarded by many observers as being ethical to a fault. That’s the way he wanted it. It seemed as if he was trying to build winning teams in spite of the recruiting landscape, rather than work with it.

He tried to win with evaluation on the recruiting trail, and then tough-love player development once his players became Spartans. The lightly-recruited Skiles and Smith became two of the Big Ten’s all-time diamond-in-the-rough success stories. Shawn Respert was another lightly-recruited Heathcote gem. He became the Big Ten’s all-time leading scorer.

By 1988, with the Breslin Center in the process of being built and Izzo providing energy on the recruiting trail, Heathcote secured a Top 10 recruiting class, led by Mike Peplowski and Matt Steigenga. That core, with Smith leading the way, yielded a Big Ten Championship and No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed in 1990. Heathcote’s teams earned NCAA Tournament bids in five of his last six seasons.

Heathcote's coaching tree includes Izzo, Kelvin Sampson, former Stanford coach Mike Montgomery, former Wyoming coach Jim Brandenburg, Jim Boylan, Brian Gregory, plus former players such as Scott Skiles and Mark Montgomery.

"I'll miss a lot of things, including his humor," Gregory said. "It was almost a badge of honor if he ripped you because he was testing you. He was old school and that's how he showed he cared, ripping you in some way that he thought could drive home a point to make you look at some part of your life.

"For the first time since I was 25, I won't get a birthday card from him and won't get a call from him after a game and that really bums me out."

Heathcote was head coach at Montana prior to being named head coach at Michigan State in 1976. He was an assistant coach for Marv Harshman at Washington State, helping the Cougars become the biggest Pac-8 challengers to John Wooden’s UCLA in the late 1960s.

In 1975, Heathcote’s Montana team narrowly lost to Wooden’s eventual National Champion UCLA squad, 67-64, in the Sweet 16.

At Washington State, Heathcote coached the Cougars’ freshman team to a 99-9 record.

In 1973, Heathcote coached Montana’s handball team to an intercollegiate national championship. Heathcote remained an avid handball player into his 70s, and was a regular on the courts at the Michigan Athletic Club in East Lansing during his off-seasons.

Heathcote was born in Harvey, N.D. and moved to Manchester, Wash., with his mother, at age three after his father passed away. He spent a short time in the Navy at the end of World War II and then played basketball at Washington State.

After his retirement, Michigan State staged an all-star game pitting standout players from the first nine years of his tenure against those from the latter half of his years as head coach. The event, which starred Magic, Smith, Skiles and Respert, sold out Breslin Center on a summer night.

Mark Hollis had just returned to Michigan State in the summer of 1995 as a marketing assistant in the athletic department. Hollis, a former student manager for the Michigan State basketball team under Heathcote, rose to become athletic director in 2008.

“Coach Heathcote had an impact on so many people,” Hollis said. “For me, he was among the best teachers I had the opportunity to be around. Reflecting on my career and life, Jud was among the most influential people in regards to my preparation for both. He will be missed, yet his memory will be seen through the many different people he impacted. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Bev and the entire Heathcote family.”

At his core, Heathcote was a giver, a facilitator. He gave Michigan State some great years, and also provided the opportunity, direction and means for others to blossom.

Where would Michigan State be without Jud Heathcote? Well, one needs to stop and think where Michigan State would be without the 1979 National Championship, without Magic Johnson, without Tom Izzo. Omit those three from Spartan lore and one begins to recognize what Michigan State would have been without Heathcote.