The plane was nearing El Paso, sailing home from a miserable trip to Denver on that afternoon in 1985.
Jeep Jackson walked up to the front of the plane and asked coach Don Haskins, "Coach, are we going straight to practice?" When Haskins said, "Yep," Jackson replied, "Good." And then he said words that Haskins would never forget.
"Coach, as long as I'm here we will never get embarrassed like that again."
And they never were.
It has been 30 years now since Hernell "Jeep" Jackson broke El Paso hoops hearts when he died of a congenital heart defect at the far too young age of 23.