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The death this week of former UTEP basketball coach Jason Rabedeaux in Vietnam brought back a lot of memories.

Among them, Rabedeaux’s abrupt resignation a dozen years ago.

“This is a situation that I’ve come to a conclusion about,” Rabedeaux said back in October 2002. “I have a lot of things in my life that I have to prioritize.”

What happened?

“I just tried to be a friend to him,” said longtime UTEP booster Joe Gomez, who knew Rabedeaux well. “I just told him he was getting a great opportunity to follow a legend (Don Haskins) and so all aspects of his life both coaching and off the court had to be on the straight and narrow.”

But at the start of what would have been his fourth season in El Paso, a female caller to KROD’s SportsTalk dropped a bomb.

“The call heard around El Paso was when I was at the Haskins Center for UTEP basketball media day,” ESPN El Paso’s Steve Kaplowitz said. “I had just finished interviewing Rabedeaux for the upcoming season, when a lady called up and questioned the morality of coaches.”

The woman accused Rabedeaux, who was married and had two young sons, of infidelity. Five days later he would resign.

Less than two years later, Rabedeaux got a second chance when he was hired as an assistant at Marquette. In a phone conversation, he attempted to mend fences with El Paso and shed a bit more light about his departure.

“I put a lot of people in a very difficult situation at UTEP,” Rabedeaux said. “I often think about the chance (UTEP Athletic Director Bob Stull) took on me and what could have happened. But you can’t live life in reverse. I was afforded a wonderful opportunity. but obviously my personal life was not under control the way it needed to be. My No. 1 priority should have been my family and UTEP. But it wasn’t.”

“He made a mistake and people make mistakes all the time,” Kaplowitz said. “He was in a very high profile position and it cost him his job.”

“I was glad he at least got an opportunity at Marquette,” Gomez added. “But he never did become a head coach anywhere else.”