Heath Knows What It Takes To Succeed

[flsportsfan83]

Heath Knows What It Takes To Succeed

By BRETT McMURPHY, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 4, 2007

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. - The arm.

Every Stan Heath story has to begin with the arm.

"That was one of the all-time things I had ever seen," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. "It was kind of scary. I'd just never had one sent to me in a box."

In 1996 Heath was an assistant at Bowling Green and was preparing to apply for a spot on Michigan State's staff.

But first he had to visit a local mall. He approached a saleswoman with a bizarre request. He wanted an arm.

"She laughed and said 'Why do you want this?' " Heath said.

Heath then sent his resume to Izzo along with a mannequin's arm and a note: "I'd give my right arm to work with you."

"I know it was corny, but I looked at it this way: I needed to recruit Tom," Heath said. "If I could recruit Tom, I could recruit talent to help them be successful."

Heath convinced Izzo to hire him, and it paid off. In Heath's five years at Michigan State, the Spartans won four Big Ten titles and went to three consecutive Final Fours from 1999-01, winning the 2000 national title.

"We brought in all the recruits who ended up winning the national championship," Izzo said. "He Heath was a great part of that beginning."

Nearly a decade later, the 42-year old Heath finds himself part of another beginning. This time as coach at the University of South Florida.

Perhaps it's appropriate that one of his first jobs as a teenager was delivering caskets. Because Heath's biggest job in Tampa will be revitalizing a program that's been left for dead.

It's been 15 years since USF last made the NCAA Tournament. Since 1992, the Bulls have been mostly mediocre. In the two years since joining the Big East Conference, the Bulls have been the league's doormat, winning only four of 32 conference games.

USF is the only one of the 16 league members that has never qualified for the Big East Tournament.

As bad as it has been, Heath thinks the Bulls are farther along than the program in his last job at Arkansas, where he took the Razorbacks to consecutive NCAA Tournaments - before getting fired.

"My first year at Arkansas in 2002-03, it was total rebuilding," Heath said. "I know people think I have a difficult challenge right now, but at Arkansas the leading returning scorer averaged five points.

"With this job, I see Kentrell Gransberry and, you know what, I'm a little bit further than I was five years ago."

Work Ethic Instilled Early

Stan Heath Jr., Heath's 66-year-old father, remembers visiting his son in Fayetteville, Ark., before his first season there. He went to practice and didn't know if the players were the Razorbacks or an intramural team.

"Is this the team you got?" Heath's father said. "Stan told me, 'Don't worry, I'll turn this around.' "

Heath's father knows all about hard work - and basketball. He played Division II ball at the Detroit Institute of Technology.

For nine years, he worked for the Detroit Fire Department before returning to school to get his degree. He's been a funeral director for 32 years.

"I worked all the time," said Heath's father, who still proudly wears the 2000 Michigan State national title ring, a gift from his son, on his right index finger. "That's how he was brought up, to see people working, not to see people sitting around the house.

"I believe in everybody working. I used to tell Stan all the time: 'Stars are not born. They're made when nobody's watching. So you have to go out and work for this thing. You don't come here and somebody's going to give it to you. You have to earn it.' "

Sheryl Jones, Heath's older sister, said he always has been a leader because of his determination.

"My father is a disciplined worker, and that's instilled in us," Jones said. "Hard work gives you great results. It's his personality. He makes you want to work hard."

Darren "DJ" Johnson, who was one of Heath's closest childhood friends and still is today, remembers Heath, nicknamed "Ice Man" for his idol George Gervin, and his unstoppable hook shot.

"He had a baby hook with his left hand," said Johnson, a real estate broker in Detroit. "He was a robot to this move. You can't stop a hook, but I was too young to realize."

When not shooting hoops or playing baseball on the gravel infield at the Rosedale Park Community Center, they frequently played a card game called "Tunk" with buddies Marvin, Devon and Dave. They also found time for your typical teenage antics: piling everybody into the trunk of Marvin Baker's Fury Chrysler and sneaking into the Wyoming Drive-In.

Through it all, though, Johnson realized Heath was a natural leader.

"His personality is perfect for what he does," Johnson said. "When we were growing up, he kept everyone in line. You may think you can walk on Stan, but he'll let you know if he doesn't like something."

Blue-Collar Recruiter

Heath was an all-state guard at Detroit's Catholic Central High and then a three-year letterman at Eastern Michigan. In 1988, he got his first coaching job: Ypsilanti (Mich.) Lincoln High's freshman team. A year later, he took an assistant's job at NAIA Hillsdale (Mich.) College, which paid $3,000 a year.

In 1990, Heath said he "went backwards." He went from a Division II school to Division III Albion (Mich.) College, where he was an assistant and the head JV coach.

"It was my first chance to coach my own program," Heath said. "Of all my jobs, Division III was the hardest I've ever had. Not only are you recruiting for the varsity, but also for the junior varsity.

"Every year, you're trying to bring in 20 guys. And at the same time, you don't have scholarships to offer so you have to convince them to pay $18,000 tuition."

Heath learned a lot those two years at Albion.

"Coach Mike Turner taught me a lot, I learned how to recruit in a mass way," Heath said. "When you're trying to recruit 20 guys, you better have 80 guys on your list because you're going to lose a lot.

"You learn how to work. You hear 'nos' and 'yeses' and a lot more 'nos' but you keep moving."

That time was well spent. At Arkansas, Heath signed three national top-15 recruiting classes.

"He started off in Division III, so I can relate to him in that way," Izzo said. "You always had better appreciation for things when you slept in your car, you've driven hundreds and hundreds of miles to see a kid play, instead of flying.

"You're eating bad food, staying in bad hotels. That was one thing I always appreciated about him. He emerged in a white-collar program, but came up the blue-collar way."

Marquette coach Tom Crean was an assistant with Heath at Michigan State.

"He went after that job and got it," Crean said. "He earned it. It's just like the way he recruits, he just outworks everybody else and gets the job done.

"You think of him, and you smile. He attracts a lot of people. He's got the coaching acumen. He's genuine and real. That's how he recruits. That's how he establishes relationships."

'Emphasized Small Details'

After two years at Albion, Heath spent the next 10 seasons as an assistant (Wayne State 1992-94, Bowling Green 1995-96 and Michigan State 1997-01) before being named head coach at Kent State in 2001.

That year, Heath led the Golden Flashes to the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight and came within one win of reaching the Final Four. Heath's 30-6 record was the third-best debut in NCAA history.

Antonio Gates, the San Diego Chargers' All-Pro tight end, initially was at Michigan State when Heath was there. Gates left for a junior college and played for Heath at Kent State during that magical 2001-02 season.

"If you ever watch him and watch him coach, he is into the game like he is the one who is playing it," Gates said. "The way he subs, he is into the game. That's one thing I like about him.

"He is constantly moving, standing up. You know he emphasized taking care of the ball. He emphasized the small details."

When Heath, who signed a five-year deal with USF in April worth $680,000 a season, debuts Friday at home against Cleveland State, Gates said Bulls fans will be impressed.

"They can definitely expect a guy who is willing to put forth the effort to win a championship," Gates said. "He is a very determined coach. He motivates his guys because he is a high energy coach.

"He understands the game of basketball. He has won in the Big 10, won in the MAC and had a winning record in the SEC. He is a guy, a coach who has been around with a winning tradition.

"When you have this winning tradition, it's kind of like credibility. They can expect a guy who has seen it all. He's a guy who understands what it takes. He knows what to look for. He can definitely implement that into South Florida."

Heath, who was 112-77 at Arkansas and Kent State, is ready for the challenge.

"I want us to be one of the hardest-working teams out there," he said.

Heath's father is confident his son will succeed.

"First of all, he's a winner," Heath's father said. "Wherever Stan has gone, he has won."

Reporter Brett McMurphy can be reached at (813) 259-7928 or bmcmurphy@tampatrib.com

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2007/nov/04/sp-heath-knows-what-it-takes-to-succeed/?sports-colleges-bulls

[Carolina_Bull]

In the end, it'll be about wins and losses, but man did we need a guy like this to run the men's BB program.  Bring on the Vikings!

[Henry Jones Jr.]

Who woulda thought 3 weeks ago..... "Thank God it's Basketball season!"

[Bulls Are We]

Who ends up with more conference wins this year Heath or Leavitt?

[flsportsfan83]

hopefully Heath. Basketball season is longer, and I hope to god we have more than 4 Big East Basketball wins,.

[BrahmanBulliever]

hopefully Heath. Basketball season is longer, and I hope to god we have more than 4 Big East Basketball wins,.

If not we'll always have mens soccer....

[DELdaBull]

Just got my weekend package (can't afford season tickets yet).  I am looking forwrd to seeing the greatest BBall coach during the DeldaBull era (2001 and beyond) .