Stanley Heath III (born December 17, 1964) is an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

coach currently serving as the head coach for

Eastern Michigan Eastern Michigan University (EMU, EMich, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern) is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1849 as the Michigan State Normal School, it was the fourth normal school (teachers' ...

. Heath formerly served as head coach at the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, Tampa, Florida, United States, and other campuses in St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, ...

, the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

and

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a Public university, public research university in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio located in Kent State University at Ashtabula, Ashtabula, Kent State ...

, the latter of whom he led to the

Elite Eight In the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, NCAA men's Division I basketball championship or the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, NCAA women's Division I basketball championship, the "Elite Eight" comprises the final eight t ...

of the 2002 NCAA basketball tournament. He led all three programs to at least one NCAA tournament.

Background

Stan Heath graduated from Detroit Catholic Central High School in 1983. He was an all-state guard during his time there. He went on to earn his bachelor's in social science from

Eastern Michigan University Eastern Michigan University (EMU, EMich, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern) is a public university, public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1849 as the Michigan State Normal School, it was the fourth normal ...

in 1988 and his master's in sports administration from

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public university, public research university in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 375 programs. It is Michigan's third-l ...

in 1993. Heath redshirted during his first year at Eastern Michigan before lettering his final three years (1985–1987). Heath is married to the former Ramona Webb (whom he met during his junior year at Eastern Michigan) and they have two sons, Jordan and Joshua.

Coaching career

Assistant and Division II coaching

Stan Heath began his collegiate career at

Hillsdale College Hillsdale College is a Private university, private, Conservatism in the United States, conservative, Christian liberal arts college in Hillsdale, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1844 by members of the Free Will Baptists. Women were admi ...

in 1989 as an assistant. After one season, he moved to

Albion College Albion College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Albion, Michigan. The college was founded in 1835 and its undergraduate population was approximately 1,500 students as of Fall 2021 ...

where he was an assistant and the junior varsity head coach for two years. He worked at

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the following three years, including serving as associate head coach in 1994 when WSU set a school record for victories (25–5), helping the Tartars win two

Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. The GLIAC was founded in June 1972. Its eleven member ...

titles with a trip to the

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is the intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment ...

Final Four in 1993. After two seasons as an assistant at

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a Public university, public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized progr ...

, he joined

Tom Izzo Thomas Michael Izzo (, ; born January 30, 1955) is an American college basketball coach who has been the head coach at Michigan State University since 1995. On April 4, 2016, Izzo was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Izzo has le ...

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

where he was an assistant for five years. He helped the Spartans advance to the Final Four three straight years (1999, 2000, 2001), win the 2000 national title, make another appearance in the Sweet 16 and go a combined 132–37. The Spartans posted records of 17–12 in 1997, 22–8 in 1998, 33–5 in 1999, 32–7 in 2000 and 28–5 in 2001. In addition to the three trips to the Final Four, MSU also reached the Sweet 16 in 1998 and the second round of the NIT in 1997. On March 19, 2001, ''

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'' featured "five college coaches waiting in the wings." Heath was on that list, along with assistant Leonard Perry of Iowa State,

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assistant

John Pelphrey John Leslie Pelphrey (born July 18, 1968) is an American college basketball coach, currently the head coach of the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles men's basketball, Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles. After being named Kentucky Mr. Basketball in 1987, he ...

, head coach Jeff Ruland of

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and Hofstra head coach Jay Wright. A month after that, he was named the head coach at Kent State.

Kent State

Heath got his first collegiate head coach job at Kent State in 2002. Under his guidance, the Golden Flashes finished with a 30–6 record that year and won the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Its members co ...

regular-season and tournament titles. They then came within a victory of reaching the Final Four before falling to Indiana at the South Regional finals of the NCAA tournament. Along the way, Kent set school and MAC records for wins (30), breaking the record of 29 set by Ball State in 1989; became the first MAC team to reach the Elite Eight since

Ohio University Ohio University (Ohio or OU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Athens, Ohio, United States. The university was first conceived in the 1787 contract between the United States Department of the Treasury#Re ...

in 1964; recorded a league-record 21-game winning streak, including a 17–1 mark in conference play; beat three ranked teams in the NCAA Tournament, including No. 20

Oklahoma State Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

, 69–61, No. 8

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

, 71–58, and No. 9

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

, 78–73 in overtime; went 12–0 at home with an average attendance of 4,928, Kent's best since 1970; led the MAC in scoring defense (64.0 ppg), scoring margin (+11.9 ppg), field goal percentage defense (.418), rebounding margin (+5.0 rpg) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.24) while also ranking second in three-point field goal percentage defense (.326) and turnover margin (+2.78); and suffered its five regular season losses by a total of 15 points. Individually, Heath's 30 wins ties for the third-most by a first-year head coach in NCAA Division I history with John Warren of

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

(1945). Only

Bill Guthridge William Wallace Guthridge (July 27, 1937 – May 12, 2015) was an American college basketball coach. Guthridge initially gained recognition after serving for thirty years as Dean Smith's assistant at the University of North Carolina and summin ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

(34 in 1998) and Bill Hodges of Indiana State (33 in 1979) won more. The

native was also voted the MAC Coach of the Year and named the national Rookie Coach of the Year by both CBSSportsline.com and CollegeInsider.com.

Arkansas

After his successful first season at Kent State, Heath then moved on to the head coaching position at the University of Arkansas. He was hired on March 28, 2002, to replace

Nolan Richardson Nolan Richardson Jr. (born December 27, 1941) is an American former basketball head coach best known for his tenure at the Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball, University of Arkansas, where he won the 1994 NCAA Division I men's basketball tourn ...

who had been fired that year after claiming he was being mistreated because he was African American and challenging athletic director Frank Broyles to buy out his contract. The 2003 season (2002–2003), Heath's first as Razorback head coach, was a difficult one. With key players having left the team, as well as the normal adjustments to a new system, the team struggled to a 9–19 record. The 2004 season (2003–2004) saw some improvement to key areas, as well as the addition of key freshmen

Parade All-American ''Parade'' was an American nationwide Sunday newspaper magazine, distributed in more than 700 newspapers nationwide in the United States until 2022. The most widely read magazine in the U.S., ''Parade'' had a circulation of 32 million and a read ...

Ronnie Brewer and

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Olu Famutimi, who contributed to a 12–16 record. The team was the 8th youngest in the NCAA. The 2005 season (2004–2005) showed marked improvement in almost every area, most notably in the front court, with the addition of Steven Hill, Darian Townes, and Charles Thomas. The jewel of the recruiting class, Al Jefferson, never made it to Arkansas as he was selected in the

NBA draft The NBA draft is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) annual event, dating back to 1947 BAA draft, 1947, in which the teams in the league can Draft (sports), draft players who declare for the draft and that are Eligibility for the NBA dr ...

by the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

. At the conclusion of the 2005 season, Heath spoke for the team in announcing they would not accept an invitation to the NIT end of year basketball tournament. This followed an end of year slide which resulted in the loss of 5 of the last 6 games. The team finished with an 18–12 overall record. The 2006 season (2005–2006) began with a key win over

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

, and respectable losses to national powers

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

and

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. The end of conference play brought on wins over ranked opponents

and

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, five straight wins, and a winning regular season conference record for the first time for Heath at Arkansas. The Razorbacks received an NCAA tournament bid for the first time under Heath, but lost in the first round to Bucknell. At the end of the 2005–2006 season as coach, Arkansas had improved (winning percentage, post season play, conference record) in each of the four full seasons he has coached. The 2007 season (2006–2007) began by winning the Old Spice Classic inaugural tournament with wins over

Southern Illinois Southern Illinois is a region of the U.S. state of Illinois comprising the southern third of the state, principally south of Interstate 70. Part of downstate Illinois, it is bordered by the two List of U.S. rivers by discharge, most voluminous ri ...

, Marist, and

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

. The team made it to the

SEC Championship Game The SEC Championship Game is an annual American football game that has determined the Southeastern Conference's season champion since 1992. For its first 32 seasons, the championship game pitted the Eastern Division regular season champion again ...

with victories over

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, United States. It is classified among "R ...

, and Vanderbilt. The Razorbacks would lose to Florida in the championship game 77–56 but still received an at large bid to the 2007 NCAA tournament for the second year in a row. The Razorbacks received a 12th seed but lost in the first round against 5th seeded

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

with the final score of 77–60. On March 26, 2007, Heath's coaching career at Arkansas ended; he believed that lackluster ticket sales played a role. It was reported that Heath would get a settlement of $900,000 over the next three years after being fired. Heath had been earning $772,943 (including media contract, endorsements, etc.) plus an additional $71,000 tax deferred annuity and UA retirement account.

South Florida

Shortly after being fired from Arkansas, Heath agreed to a five-year contract with the South Florida Bulls on April 2, 2007, replacing Robert McCullum. The Bulls, coming off a 12–16 season the year before, lost their first 3 games of the season before rebounding with a win over in-state rival

Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

. During the 2009–10 season, Heath led the Bulls to their first postseason tournament appearance since 2002. The team won 20 games (with a 9–9 Big East record) and earned a spot in the NIT but lost in the first round to North Carolina State. Heath's most successful season came in his fifth year with the Bulls, when he led them to 22 victories, and tied for fourth in the

Big East The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

league standings. It was good enough to garner a 12 seed in the NCAA tournament, where USF defeated

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

in a play-in game and then knocked off fifth-seeded

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

in the round of 64 before losing to

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

in the round of 32, 62–56. Heath and the Bulls parted ways after the team lost in the first round of the 2014 conference tournament. He spent one season as a college basketball analyst for ESPN.

Back to assistant ranks

On June 30, 2015, Heath and Jim Christian were reunited as Boston College announced Heath would join Christian's coaching staff.

Lakeland Magic

In August 2017, Heath was announced as the new head coach of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

team the Lakeland Magic, the affiliate team of the NBA's

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NB ...

. In 2021, he led Lakeland to the G League championship in the pandemic-shortened single-site season. He was then named the league's Coach of the Year.

Eastern Michigan

On April 12, 2021, Heath was appointed as the new head coach of the Eastern Michigan's men's basketball team.

College head coaching record

References

External links