Lots to read about Coach Heath (Part I)

[Guest BasketBull.]

Spartan assistant a 'player's coach'

Star Press, The (Muncie, IN)

May 16, 2000

Author: DZALES

DOUG ZALESKI

MUNCIE -- If Stan Heath is hired as the next Ball State men's basketball coach, players and fans might see similar qualities between him and former coach Ray McCallum.

Heath, an assistant coach at Michigan State, on Monday received his formal interview by Ball State officials to replace McCallum as coach.

Tim Buckley, a former Ball State assistant and current assistant at Marquette, will have his on-campus interview today.

Cardinals Athletic Director Andrea Seger is expected to offer the job to one of the men as soon as Wednesday.

Heath and McCallum, both of whom played basketball in the Mid-American Conference during the 1980s, are considered 'players' coaches.'

Heath has been an assistant coach with the Spartans the past 4 seasons. During that time, he developed a close relationship with many of the Michigan State players, particularly star point guard Mateen Cleaves.

The 34-year-old Heath is known as a coach who relates well with today's players. It was common for Michigan State players to come to Heath for insight into their personal lives as well as questions about basketball.

Among the images of Michigan State's march to the NCAA Tournament championship this season was the fiery intensity of Spartans coach Tom Izzo and several of his assistant coaches.

Heath, however, is known as the calming influence on the coaching staff. While he doesn't have a vehement demeanor, he has been called a 'hard worker' with a 'busi- ness-like att- itude.'

An easy-to-like personality served Heath well in his duties as a recruiter. His personality is such that he made people feel at ease when they were around him.

That translated into success on the recruiting trail.

Star Marion center Zach Randolph was one of two high-profile high school players who signed to play next season at Michigan State. Heath, along with Izzo and former assistant coach Tom Crean, played a major role in signing Randolph.

Vince Baldwin, president/editor of Prep Spotlight Magazine and Scouting Service, called Heath one of the best young recruiters in the Midwest. He said Heath was respected by players and coaches, particularly in the Detroit area.

'If I had to choose five young up-and-coming coaches from the Midwest, Stan would be on the list,' Baldwin said in the Michigan State basketball media guide.

Although Heath has never been a collegiate head coach, he has been prepped for the responsibility of a head coaching assignment by the trust Izzo placed in all of his assistants.

Izzo delegated authority to his assistants. Heath, who worked mainly with perimeter players, had the authority last season to substitute certain players during games without asking Izzo.

Heath has been at Michigan State 4 seasons, and he was an assistant for 2 years at Bowling Green before that.

Heath earned three letters as a point guard at Eastern Michigan.

HOLD THAT COACH HEATH SUPPLIES THE CALM FOR IZZO

Detroit Free Press (MI)

March 29, 2000

Author: JEMELE HILL FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo is throwing his suit jacket. Assistants Brian Gregory and Mike Garland are jumping up and down, screaming at alternate moments. And there is assistant coach Stan Heath, mildly fiddling with his clipboard and observing carefully, but intently.

In one snapshot, that scene during the Syracuse game explained how Heath's personality blends in within the MSU dynamic.

At any early age, Heath learned a calm demeanor could be the best benefit in the toughest, bleakest situations.

Heath grew up, of all places, in funeral parlors. His father ran a chain of funeral homes in the Detroit area and Heath was in them all throughout his childhood. He saw dead bodies embalmed and many a family cry over a loved one. But in the midst of that emotional environment, Heath's father was a tranquil influence.

"I was brought up in extremes," said Heath, 35, a native of Detroit. "I saw a lot of pain. I saw the value of someone being on an even keel. It's where I get my personality."

That serenity has helped Heath, who is in his fourth season with the Spartans, in difficult situations.

At Bowling Green, where Heath was an assistant for two seasons before coming to MSU, he was given the extremely tough assignment of being there when Antonio Daniels, who now plays for the San Antonio Spurs, was informed about the death of his brother, Chris. Chris died of cardiac arrest, with the circumstances being much like those that surrounded the unexpected passing of Hank Gathers.

"I got the phone call at 6:30 a.m. from Alice Daniels (Daniels' mother)," said Jim Larranga, the former Bowling Green coach now at George Mason. "She had to tell Antonio and wanted someone there with him. I told her, 'Give me a few minutes to get to the dorm so he has someone he could lean on.' So I called Stan. He threw on his warmups, we went to Antonio's room together and comforted him when his phone rang."

Heath and Daniels already were close, and "my first thought was, 'It's a sad thing to happen to a young man,' " Heath remembered. "I felt for him, but what do you say? What do you do?"

Heath and his wife, Ramona, provided a wall of support for Daniels during the tough time. Daniels spent much of his time at their home and Heath said, "He came to look at me as a big brother."

"You don't become close with someone at that moment," Larranaga said. "You're only going to rely on the people you're close with. Antonio relied very heavily on Stan. Stan has a very sympathetic ear, he's a good listener."

And that's why guard Mateen Cleaves spends a lot of time at Heath's home, and on the couch in Heath's office. When players are doing something wrong, if they're facing trouble or merely frustrated, Heath is among the first to know because of his strong relationship with Cleaves.

"I go in his office almost every day," Cleaves said. "I go in there and lay around and sleep, and just to get away from people. He's really helped me a lot. He's the calm guy out of the coaches. He's soft-spoken. But he can get mad."

The players still tease Heath about one of the rare times that his anger was visible.

It happened last season when former player Thomas Kelley wasn't having a good practice. Kelley was displaying two irritating habits. He wasn't passing the ball and was losing his man on defense. Heath got so frustrated, he yelled, "T.K., you're not playing defense and you're better than that."

Kelley replied that it wasn't his fault, which irked Heath even further. Heath let loose a few, loud expletives, leaving the players amazed.

"We never really seen him like that," said forward Morris Peterson. "He tells us that's how he was on the basketball court and we kind of laugh. We still tease him about that situation."

Because Heath isn't boisterous, his contributions to the program are sometimes shadowed.

But Heath is certainly having an impact, especially in recruiting. He was key in recruiting Jason Richardson, Aloysius Anagonye and Zach Randolph. He was the first MSU coach to see Richardson, a top-five recruit from Saginaw who is perhaps the cornerstone to MSU's future. He also was the first to see Randolph, who'll join MSU this fall and is the best prospect in Indiana.

Many black coaches are pidgeonholed as just recruiters. But Heath helps arrange the schedule, prepare the game plan and develop players. Even though he doesn't scream, he's still a disciplinarian.

Heath seemed a natural fit for the job at Eastern Michigan, where he played, but the Eagles wanted someone who had been a head coach. They hired Robert Morris' Jim Boone on Tuesday.

Heath has remained patient, even though last season former assistant Tom Crean was chosen as the head coach of Marquette.

"Stan does a lot that," Ramona Heath said. "He's recruiting. He's scouting. He's up in the morning working those players out. I think" not getting a head coaching job "bothers me more than it bothers him. He has faith he's going to get there one way or another. He has his eye on the bigger picture."

That's because Heath has approached the search for a job like he has everything else. Coolly.

"I'm just a very positive person," Heath said. "I was disappointed I didn't get the Eastern job. But I think there will be other jobs in the future."

FOR FLASHES' HEATH, ONE TOUGH ACT TO FOLLOW NEW COACH WILL NEED TO USE ALL OF HIS EXPERIENCE

Akron Beacon Journal (OH)

May 11, 2001

Author: Terry Pluto

The father always wore a suit and tie, still does.

The father was a mortician, vice president of Swanson's Funeral Home in Detroit.

He went to work when it was dark, and came home when it was dark.

The father believed in sweat, discipline, paying dues, no excuses and raising children the right way.

The father seldom yelled. There was no need. A stern look from Stan Heath Sr. was all it took for the son's knees to buckle, for his blood to run quicker, his heart to pound faster.

The son is Stan Heath Jr., the new basketball coach at Kent State. He is a combination of his hard-driven father and his engaging mother, Patricia, who was the encourager.

"I sent her a video of the press conference," said Heath. "She said, 'I always knew you had it in you, but I never knew it would be like this!' She's just so enthusiastic."

Heath will need everything his parents gave him, along with all that he picked up at Michigan State from Coach Tom Izzo as he takes over a Kent State team that has gone to the NCAA Tournament two of the last three years.

He replaces Gary Waters, perhaps the most popular and successful coach in the history of the school. He inherits a senior-laden team, most of whom saw Waters as a combination coach/father figure.

It's not an easy job.

In the last three years, Kent State's records are 24-10, 28-8, 23-7. In that span, no Mid-American Conference team has won more games or made more postseason experiences.

With that springboard, Waters was lured to Rutgers with a seven-year, $3 million deal that might be worth considerably more with incentives.

Heath has been hired with some people wanting to know if he can be "the next Gary Waters" at a point when expectations at Kent State for its basketball team have never been higher.

"I know all that," he said. "I can't be the 'next' anyone. You can only be yourself. I know I have a tough act to follow, but I'd rather take over a situation like this where there is talent than have to start from scratch."EMU grad

Heath is 36 years old, but looks a lot younger. He has a shaved head, an easy smile, the same lean build he had when he played for Eastern Michigan in the middle 1980s.

"I've known Stan for a long time," said Waters. "He's a good person, a family man. He'll teach the right values. He was an assistant in the MAC at Bowling Green, and recruited Anthony Stacey, who was a star for them. Stan should do a great job."

Waters was pushing University of Charleston coach Jayson Gee as his replacement, but he also had Heath high on the list that he gave Kent State athletic director Laing Kennedy.

"When we got down to our last three candidates, Gary told me that I was facing a rough decision," said Kennedy. "All of them were good."

Waters' advice to Heath is: "Lean on the players. They will help you."

That also was the same approach Kennedy used when trying to pick a coach. The three candidates to visit the campus were former Wisconsin assistant Shawn Hood, Gee and Heath.

According to Kennedy, the players seemed to prefer Heath.

That made it simple, because so did the athletic director.

"I wanted a coach who had a vision for this team that would allow us to continue what Gary has built, and perhaps even go farther," said Kennedy.

Like what?

"Had I stayed at Kent, my goal for the team next season would have been the Sweet 16," said Waters. "If everything goes right, it could happen."A winning past

Heath wears an NCAA championship ring. He was an assistant under Tom Izzo when Michigan State won four Big Ten titles and had three appearances in the Final Four. How does that translate to Kent State?

"Will we win a national title? Probably not," Heath said. "But why can't Kent be like Gonzaga, which goes to the Sweet 16, to the Elite Eight, and knocks on the door of the Final Four?"

Sounds good, but remember that Heath has never been a head coach before. Of course, neither had Waters until he was hired by Kennedy in 1996. The two men have common ground. Both are from Detroit. Both had recruited the Midwest for MAC schools. Both were highly regarded assistants by several national publications.

"Stan is going to have to be very aggressive, be it when it comes to recruiting or playing the game," said Waters. "Our trademark was a tough, pressure defense. Most of our players weren't highly recruited. They were guys we worked hard to find. But they are quality people, which is why they came together so well as a team."

Having been an assistant at Wayne State and Bowling Green should help Heath, who won't have the lure of Michigan State to attract players to Kent.

"Stan is an outstanding person," said St. Vincent-St. Mary coach Keith Dambrot. "I was an assistant at Eastern Michigan when Stan was on the team. He was a role player, a hard worker."

Dambrot has had several conversations over the last year with Heath.

"He had been recruiting (high school All-American) LeBron James for Michigan State," said Dambrot. "Stan even went to our team banquet (Wednesday night). He's doing everything right. I look at his record; he's coached at small schools like Albion, Hillsdale and Wayne State. He worked his way up."Spartan connection

But the greatest basketball influence on Heath is Izzo, who, along with former Michigan State star Mateen Cleaves, lobbied hard with Kennedy for Heath.

"From Tom, I learned tough love," said Heath. "He has a way of being very demanding with players on the court. I mean, he'll get on them. But he also has a strong personal relationship with them away from the court, so they are willing to take the discipline. You have to have both for it to work."

Izzo told Kennedy: "Stan was a calming influence. I'd scream and stomp and yell about something, and Stan would help keep things cool."

Heath said Izzo "fired me about 50 times in five years, then hired me back the next day. He does that with all the assistants. He expected the assistants to have all their ducks on a row, or man, you felt his wrath. I know I was doing better, because last year I think I got fired only once."

Kennedy said he wants his new coach to continue Waters' "holistic approach," which meant dealing with the players not just in terms of basketball, but academically and personally."

Or as Heath said: "If a player is having problems in class, problems at home, problems with a girl, he'll eventually have problems in basketball. At Michigan State, we stayed close to our players so we didn't have to live in a constant state of crisis management. Each assistant was assigned three players to really watch, and I plan to do the same with my staff here."Great recruiter

Izzo praised Heath's dedication and recruiting ability. Heath had just secured Kelvin Torbert for the East Lansing school, a 6-foot-3 athlete whom Heath had followed since the eighth grade. Many recruiting services rated Torbert the top high school player in the country.

While Torbert was from nearby Flint, he was being pursued by the likes of Kentucky, Duke, Michigan and the other powers. At Michigan State, Heath is credited with recruiting three other high school All-Americans: Jason Richardson, Zach Randolph and Marcus Taylor.

He has already signed an intriguing player for Kent State, an athletic 6-foot-7 forward named Jonathan Merritt, who Heath says averaged 18 points, 15 rebounds and about seven blocks for West Bloomingdale High in Detroit.

But the story of how Heath met his wife, Ramona, might tell you the most about him. It began when they were students at Eastern Michigan.

"I saw her in a dance class," he said. "Then we had some mutual friends, and got together that way. At least that's my story."

What does she say?

"That I followed her around," he said. "I carried her books. I chased her down on the way to other classes. That I was pretty relentless."

The result is a 10-year marriage with two sons, Jordan and Joshua.

"She's my top recruit," he said. "No doubt about that."