UTEP observes 30th anniversary of Jeep Jackson’s death

UTEP remembered one of its all-time great players tonight, the late Jeep Jackson, whose sudden death at the age of 23 during a Fort Bliss charity basketball game in 1987 cast a shadow of sadness on one of the greatest eras of Miner basketball.

Friends, family, and teammates gathered on the floor of the Don Haskins Center to pay tribute to Jackson during halftime of the UTEP vs. UAB men’s basketball game.

The loudest ovation of the night came when Jackson’s parents were introduced – his mother fighting back tears during the entire ceremony.

Teammates referred to Jackson as someone who “lit up the room” and was more like “a brother” than a teammate.

The impact it had on the El Paso community is something many who lived through that difficult time will never forget.

“You didn’t see guys with that kind of confidence,” said Fred Reynolds, a former teammate of Jackson’s.

Jackson saved one of his best performances for his next-to-last game, scoring 23 points, including seven in overtime, to help UTEP beat Arizona in a first round NCAA Tournament game in March of 1987.

But would be dead less than two months later.

“It just hurt everyone, and it still hurts, we still think about it,” Reynolds said. “I just can’t believe it’s been 30 years.”

Former teammate and best friend Wayne “Soup” Campbell said it’s still emotional for him.

“I remember it like it was yesterday,” Campbell said. “It’s something that stays in your heart forever.”

An autopsy showed Jackson had traces of cocaine in his urine, but the coroner listed his cause of death as a congenital heart defect. No one took the news harder than the late/great Don Haskins, who was 57 at the time.

“I’ve never seen Coach so broken up and so hurt over what happened with Jeep,” Campbell said. “They’re together now in heaven, but it took a lot out of Coach.”

KROD Sportstalk’s Steve Kaplowitz was just 14 at the time.

“You thought (Jackson) was a first round pick,” Kaplowitz said. “You thought he’d have a long career and it was a shock.”

In addition to Jackson’s parents, now in their 80’s, his now 29 year-old daughter, Tareva, will be in attendance tonight to celebrate the life of her father, who she never got to meet.

“When she comes tonight and she sees how much he meant to this community and to this basketball program,” Kaplowitz said, “it’s going to be an emotional time for her.”

Added Campbell: “She’s just an amazing person. You look at her and you see Jeep. That’s God looking down on us, saying, ‘You know what, I’m taking him, but we’re going to add this lovely young lady.'”