Jeep Jackson
- Thread starter MinerFan79
- Start date
A great baller and super talented athlete. A young life tragically cut short by one stupid mistake.
One of my all time favs. In him, Hardaway had a great mentor.
Great backcourt for sure. The golden days
The past is…well, the past, but I feel extremely fortunate to have been around for those golden days. The 80s and early 90s was a fun era.
Interesting that story above didn’t mention Cocaine. That was a huge part of the story when he died
Next time you’re in the Don, look at the banners hanging from the 80s. It was by far the best era of utep basketball
Because it was determined that it wasn't the cause of death, which resulted in a bunch of retractions. In journalism class it became an example of making sure your "facts" are confirmed.
What was the original story? He took a line of coke, played ball, and had a heart attack?
1987: Heart, not cocaine, killed Jeep Jackson
A 1987 autopsy revealed that Jeep Jackson's right coronary artery, feeding into the heart, was abnormal.
www.elpasotimes.com
Yes, if I recall correctly. Later, they determined his death was due to a congenital heart defect.
Doctor Says Jeep Jackson Used Cocaine Hours Before Death
Texas El Paso basketball star Hernell (Jeep) Jackson used cocaine hours before he collapsed and died during a benefit game, a medical examiner said Thursday.
www.latimes.com
Remember this was less than a year after Len Bias and Don Rogers so when drugs became suspected the press jumped on it.
Wow they arrested the two girls who the supplied the blow to him.Doctor Says Jeep Jackson Used Cocaine Hours Before Death
Texas El Paso basketball star Hernell (Jeep) Jackson used cocaine hours before he collapsed and died during a benefit game, a medical examiner said Thursday.
His death tortured Haskins. This 1987 article was found online:
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
May 11, 1987
''What can I do different for the players than what I did this year? I talked to them about drugs. I tested them,'' Haskins said recently.
The patches of skin under his eyes were dark, slung low with grief. For a moment, he stared vacantly ahead in an office crammed with trophies and plaques.
''If they don`t have the willpower to avoid drugs, what can I do?'' he said finally. ''I can`t be with them 24 hours a day.''
Co-workers say Haskins has mentally thrashed himself since May 2, analyzing what he could have or should have done, as if he had lost a game because of turnovers that could have been prevented.
''I`m sure that a lot of people in the country will think I`m a loose coach,'' he said.
The irony is that Haskins, well aware of national drug scandals and the cocaine-induced deaths of former Maryland star Len Bias and Cleveland Browns safety Don Rogers, had tried to be tougher on his players. Haskins started the 1986-87 season with a lecture from a local FBI agent about drugs and game-fixing. He ordered a surprise drug test of his players; all of them passed.
Just 10 days ago, Haskins brought in a group of drug counselors and rehabilitated drug users to lecture the coaches on warning signs--and to address the players.
The three departing seniors, including Jackson, were not included.
''What was I going to do, kick them off the team?'' Haskins said, pondering the thought for a moment. ''Maybe I should`ve had them come.''
In this week before final exams, the tight-knit campus has been wracked by sorrow, as students tried to comprehend Jackson`s death. He was a familiar figure, smiling and riding his bicycle around the stark buildings wedged amid the rocky, arid hills.
Nowhere is the loss more apparent than in Haskins` office, on the bottom level of the box-like Special Events Center where Jackson helped the Miners win four WAC championships. Sympathy cards, hand-lettered posters that read
''We Love You, Jeep'' and fading red roses clutter the waiting room.
Haskins, who has guided his teams to a .695 winning percentage in 709 games and sent 14 players into professional basketball, has no answers.
''What do we do, test the players every week? I don`t know,'' he said.
''They get sick and tired of hearing about going to school, about not using drugs.''
Haskins had scheduled a Friday afternoon news conference, presumably to talk about drugs, but canceled it. He had intended to go to Jackson`s funeral Saturday in Carson, Calif., but has been ordered by his doctor to stay in bed and take pills every few hours to combat his high blood pressure.
Jackson`s death has touched Haskins especially because he watched the 6-1 guard develop from a freshman redshirted because of academic shortcomings to an all-conference player.
Haskins said he is awaiting the toxicology reports from a Dallas laboratory before admitting to himself that Jeep Jackson died from drug use. But from his resigned speech, Haskins seemed to agree with many around El Paso that it is a fact. Wednesday, police charged Michelle Lee Cabrera, 19, of El Paso, with delivery of cocaine in connection with the death.
''This guy, this is absolutely the last guy I would expect this to happen to,'' Haskins said. ''It`s unbelievable.''
Different as they were, Jackson and Haskins melded famously. When the Miners played on the road, Jackson often would wake up at 7 a.m. for an 8:30 breakfast and head straight for Haskins. Jackson and his coach, also an early riser, would then hunch over coffee-shop tables to pore over game strategies. In the Miners` press guide, published last fall, Haskins summed up each player with half-criticism, half-praise: ''He`s really improved,'' ''He has to come around,'' ''He`s going to be a little better.''
Except Jeep Jackson. ''I think Jeep is a winner all the way,'' Haskins said.
Jackson, with his non-stop laugh, seemed to soften Haskins, said Don Paulson, UTEP`s director of counseling services and a former admissions director. ''It`s hard for a country boy to be a mentor for a city kid, but he learned to mentor well,'' Paulson said.
Haskins thinks back to a conversation he and Jackson had at the end of last summer`s break. ''I was sitting in the conference room, watching a game film,'' Haskins said. ''Jeep stopped in, and he was talking about the Len Bias thing, about how dumb it was.
''I definitely remember him saying that.''
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1987-05-11-8702050339-story.html
DRUG-RELATED DEATH TORTURES UTEP COACH
David L. Marcus, Dallas Morning NewsCHICAGO TRIBUNE
May 11, 1987
''What can I do different for the players than what I did this year? I talked to them about drugs. I tested them,'' Haskins said recently.
The patches of skin under his eyes were dark, slung low with grief. For a moment, he stared vacantly ahead in an office crammed with trophies and plaques.
''If they don`t have the willpower to avoid drugs, what can I do?'' he said finally. ''I can`t be with them 24 hours a day.''
Co-workers say Haskins has mentally thrashed himself since May 2, analyzing what he could have or should have done, as if he had lost a game because of turnovers that could have been prevented.
''I`m sure that a lot of people in the country will think I`m a loose coach,'' he said.
The irony is that Haskins, well aware of national drug scandals and the cocaine-induced deaths of former Maryland star Len Bias and Cleveland Browns safety Don Rogers, had tried to be tougher on his players. Haskins started the 1986-87 season with a lecture from a local FBI agent about drugs and game-fixing. He ordered a surprise drug test of his players; all of them passed.
Just 10 days ago, Haskins brought in a group of drug counselors and rehabilitated drug users to lecture the coaches on warning signs--and to address the players.
The three departing seniors, including Jackson, were not included.
''What was I going to do, kick them off the team?'' Haskins said, pondering the thought for a moment. ''Maybe I should`ve had them come.''
In this week before final exams, the tight-knit campus has been wracked by sorrow, as students tried to comprehend Jackson`s death. He was a familiar figure, smiling and riding his bicycle around the stark buildings wedged amid the rocky, arid hills.
Nowhere is the loss more apparent than in Haskins` office, on the bottom level of the box-like Special Events Center where Jackson helped the Miners win four WAC championships. Sympathy cards, hand-lettered posters that read
''We Love You, Jeep'' and fading red roses clutter the waiting room.
Haskins, who has guided his teams to a .695 winning percentage in 709 games and sent 14 players into professional basketball, has no answers.
''What do we do, test the players every week? I don`t know,'' he said.
''They get sick and tired of hearing about going to school, about not using drugs.''
Haskins had scheduled a Friday afternoon news conference, presumably to talk about drugs, but canceled it. He had intended to go to Jackson`s funeral Saturday in Carson, Calif., but has been ordered by his doctor to stay in bed and take pills every few hours to combat his high blood pressure.
Jackson`s death has touched Haskins especially because he watched the 6-1 guard develop from a freshman redshirted because of academic shortcomings to an all-conference player.
Haskins said he is awaiting the toxicology reports from a Dallas laboratory before admitting to himself that Jeep Jackson died from drug use. But from his resigned speech, Haskins seemed to agree with many around El Paso that it is a fact. Wednesday, police charged Michelle Lee Cabrera, 19, of El Paso, with delivery of cocaine in connection with the death.
''This guy, this is absolutely the last guy I would expect this to happen to,'' Haskins said. ''It`s unbelievable.''
Different as they were, Jackson and Haskins melded famously. When the Miners played on the road, Jackson often would wake up at 7 a.m. for an 8:30 breakfast and head straight for Haskins. Jackson and his coach, also an early riser, would then hunch over coffee-shop tables to pore over game strategies. In the Miners` press guide, published last fall, Haskins summed up each player with half-criticism, half-praise: ''He`s really improved,'' ''He has to come around,'' ''He`s going to be a little better.''
Except Jeep Jackson. ''I think Jeep is a winner all the way,'' Haskins said.
Jackson, with his non-stop laugh, seemed to soften Haskins, said Don Paulson, UTEP`s director of counseling services and a former admissions director. ''It`s hard for a country boy to be a mentor for a city kid, but he learned to mentor well,'' Paulson said.
Haskins thinks back to a conversation he and Jackson had at the end of last summer`s break. ''I was sitting in the conference room, watching a game film,'' Haskins said. ''Jeep stopped in, and he was talking about the Len Bias thing, about how dumb it was.
''I definitely remember him saying that.''
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1987-05-11-8702050339-story.html
Jeep certainly deserves the honor. He was all heart and hustle, and was key to so many Miner victories during his years here. I'm sure that the way he took over the overtime against Arizona when we were down three starters and a key reserve who had all fouled out is burned in the minds of all who saw that game. Great leader, great player, his was a tremendous loss.
Agree, that Arizona game is my all time favorite. I even bought the DVD for that game and the 1992 Kansas game. Jeep carried the team in that overtime game against Arizona with help from Mike Richmond and Chris Blocker. He was a coach on the floor. I was deeply saddened when he passed away.
Maybe the best Miner game I ever watched too. Kansas game ranks right up there. If I remember correctly, 3 of our starters had fouled out by the time we went into OT. What a great win that was.
Yes 3 Miner starters were not in the OT against Arizona and that Arizona team was loaded
Three starters plus key reserve Soup Campbell (another of my all time favorite Miners). The Wildcats started OT with their full roster, though they did have some players foul out late in OT when we had the game under control. An absolutely great game. I bought this game, the Kansas game, and the 1985 Georgetown game from MinersWon years ago.
Two key starters were Quintan Gates and Chris Sandle. Gates had like six three pointers in the first half. The most satisfying thing about that game was that it was an NCAA tournament game and we beat Arizona on their home court. This backfired on the NCAA trying to get Arizona further into the tournament even though UTEP was the 8 seed and Arizona was the 9 seed.
I got a can of soup as an award at my HS soccer banquet. It was labeled the “Soup Campbell award” because I had a similar knee surgery to what he had my junior year.
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