Jason Rabedeaux

Jason Rabedeaux (April 4, 1965 – September 22, 2014) was an American college basketball coach who served as the head coach of the UTEP Miners from 1999 to 2002. Rabedeaux was also a top assistant at Washington State and Oklahoma prior to becoming UTEP's head coach.

Early life Rabedeaux was born in Aurora, Illinois, and moved to Eau Claire, Wisconsin when he was seven.

Rabedeaux attended Eau Claire Memorial High School, playing basketball, American football and baseball; he quarterbacked the Old Abes to the state semifinals in his senior year, while earning All-State in basketball and baseball. He was a walk on at the University of California, Davis, and was named all-conference twice. He ended his UC Davis career with 1,112 points, 15th-most in school history. He holds the school record for the three-pointers in a season (80), most three-pointers in a game (six) and most free throws in a game (14). In 1995, he was inducted into the UC Davis Aggies Athletics Hall of Fame.

Rabedeaux, who had served as recruiting director with North Adams, Washington State and Oklahoma, established himself as one of the top recruiters in the nation. Two of his recruits, Nate Erdmann and Corey Brewer, were later drafted by the Utah Jazz and Miami Heat in 1997 and 1998 respectively. Rabedeaux's recruiting also extended into Mexico, with recruit Eduardo Nájera becoming a 2000 Wooden Award candidate. on October 21, he announced his resignation due to "personal reasons".

In 2004, Rabedeaux was hired by Tom Crean as a coach at Marquette. In 2007, he became the school's Director of Basketball Operations. He later became head coach of the Japan Basketball League's Link Tochigi Brex. However, the team, who had been the league's defending champions, went 8–12, and Rabedeaux was fired in December 2010. In 2011, he was hired by the Al-Manama of the Bahrain Premier League, winning the Bahrain Cup and Bahrain Super Cup, In late 2011, Rabedeaux was hired by the Saigon Heat of the ASEAN Basketball League as an assistant coach under Robert Newson. After seven consecutive losses, Newson was demoted, During his tenure with the Heat, he coached in China to earn more money.

Beginning during the final year of his coaching career at UTEP, Rabedeaux struggled with alcoholism; After his divorce, Rabedeaux began gaining a significant amount of weight, reaching as high as .

In Vietnam, Rabedeaux met Hong-Nhung Nguyen, nicknamed Eva by foreigners, and the two began a relationship, with plans to marry and return to the United States. After Rabedeaux returned from a trip to Wisconsin, his behavior, which included becoming increasingly hostile and smelling of alcohol, attracted the attention of Heat owner Connor Nguyen, who warned him that should he cause another incident, he would be fired. Nguyen had hired Tony Garbelotto as an assistant and potential interim coach. During games, he appeared to be unstable and dizzy; during his final game against the Warriors, he attempted to draw a play, but was unable to, and Garbelotto had to explain the play.

The day after the game, Rabedeaux was found by Eva in the kitchen with cuts on his arms and head, and died while in a local taxicab. His death certificate listed the reason of death as a traumatic brain injury. Toxicology reports revealed that Rabedeaux had been sober at the time of his death.

Rabedeaux's funeral was held at the Congregational United Church of Christ in Eau Claire, with Sampson delivering the eulogy.

Head coaching record