Every great team needs a super sub who can come off the bench firing and provide a spark. The 1986-87 Hawkeye had just that in Jeff Moe. The sharp shooting guard was instant offense and energy for the Tom Davis team that won 30 games that year. Moe talks about his Iowa career, that very special season and the team coming together, plus much more.

Q: You were a guy who was already on the team for a couple of years when Coach Davis arrived. What was it like for you to adjust to a new head coach at that point in your Iowa career?

MOE: I really didn't know who he was when he arrived. Stanford was a good team, but they weren't a top ten type team. Once we got to know him a little bit in the first few days, everything was fine. Basically, everyone loved the style of play. Under Coach Raveling, it was a set offense and now we moved to a pressing and fast break type offense. Everyone was elated after the first practice.

Q: Did you wonder what your role would be on the team?

MOE: Not really. It was more about just going out and playing. What I loved about Coach Davis was all he cared about were the numbers. The very first practice, statistics were kept. We did that over time and kept those statistics. There were guys with big reputations for stats and those were the guys who ended up playing.

Q: I'd guess from the players perspective, it was up tempo basketball and he played a lot of guys, so you knew you would get an opportunity every game.

MOE: Oh yeah. The guys knew it too and the reason that system worked was because we had ten or more great players. You can't run that system if you have a big drop off. That wasn't the case with that team. I'd say probably the top eight or nine guys could have easily started on any other team in the country that year.

Q: Was there a moment where you said to yourself, wow, this team could be pretty special?

MOE: Yeah, I'd say when we were something like 15 or 16-0 to start the season. Somewhere around that time. We were just out there playing and then you get to 18-0 and you start thinking, what was the record of that 1976 Indiana team? Obviously that didn't happen, but that was a really good team.

Q: Looking back, how beneficial was that Far East trip that you guys took in the summer before that season?

MOE: That was probably the key to the season. One of the reasons we were so successful early on was most teams didn't have a chance to practice against the press. For a lot of teams in the first two months, that was the first time they saw a press. Plus, we had about a month of practice and we played some really good teams over in China. I think we even lost a couple of games to a Korean team. The first game we played we had flown about 24 hours and then had about two hours of rest and then played a game. I think the schedule may have helped them.

Q: You guys opened the season up in Alaska and even Anchorage gave you guys a tough game and NC State was right down to the end and then you played Reggie Lewis and Northeastern.

MOE: Those first two games we played terrible. North Carolina State should have beat us and then by the third game we got everything together and won by like 25 points. That is when we knew this team could probably do something special. We started to see our talent. I know we had a close game against Cal-Irvine and Scott Brooks, but I don't remember that game being that close, but I guess it was.

Q: When you get to Big Ten play, I always look at that three game stretch where you come from 20 points down at Illinois to win, beat Purdue on the road, and then score 100 points on Indiana at Carver-Hawkeye, which was the first time any team had scored 100 on a Bob Knight team. What do you remember about that three game stretch?

MOE: That was a great stretch. I remember the Indiana game the most because I grew up in Indiana. I still bring up scoring 100 points on Indiana to a few people around here. I see a few former Indiana players from that team around here, but they wear that ring, so I don't really like to bring it up to them.

Q: I'm guessing you guys would have liked to have had a third shot at Indiana that year.

MOE: I think everyone would have. Obviously we should have won the UNLV game. I don't think there was a team in the country that could have beat us two times in a row. We would have loved to have played them again.

Q: Tell me about the reunion this weekend and how excited you are to get back together with the guys from that team.

MOE: It was mostly Les Jepsen that got this started. The thing that I tried to spearhead was getting Roy Marble's jersey retired. I talked to some people about it and said he is the all-time leading scorer and that record has stood for 25 years and no one has come close to it. I have never heard of an all-time leading scorer not having his number retired. I was hoping they would do it, but it hasn't happened. I know he has had some off the court issues, but as far as basketball, the numbers don't lie. I hope it happens someday.

Q: You have to be excited to see some of your old teammates.

MOE: It's going to be fun. There is the Super Bowl that weekend here in Indy, but I'll be back there for sure. I got back there this summer for the Chris Street golf outing. It was the first time that I had been back in about 20 years. I told Street's dad that getting all these players back together might be the biggest recruiting tool that Iowa has going for it because some of these players from the team have some kids who are really good basketball players. My son watches a lot of videos of Chris Street and tries to play like he did.

Q: How old is your son and is he a pretty good basketball player?

MOE: I married a girl from Sioux City and we waited to have kids, so he's in 3rd grade now. He plays on a top rated travel team that is run by George Hill from the Pacers. He's already playing in about 20 tournaments during the summer. I am excited to see all of the players from our team and their kids and how they develop because it sounds like there are about 15-20 really good kids just from our group. I know Lohaus had a son that is good, along with Michael Morgan. I know Roy's son is obviously really good and he has some younger kids that are really good too.

Q: Share with me a memory Coach Davis and what he meant to you.

MOE: I just remember how smart and crafty he was as a coach. He wouldn't yell or scream at you. He would teach you and coach you. I remember my junior year I led the Big Ten in three point shooting and then my senior year in the first two or three games in the Big Ten, I was shooting terrible. Instead of getting mad at me about it, he came up to me and said, "Hey Moe, why don't you try banking it in from three." I was so livid. He said it so nicely, but in my mind it was the most insulting thing you could say to me. What was funny is it got me so motivated and I shot it really well the rest of the season. To me that was brilliant coach. The other thing I liked about him was there were no politics involved. It was here are the stats and the numbers. That goes from preseason games to practices to games. It was all about the numbers. Even if you didn't play the year before, like Lohaus, he looked at the numbers and he was the leading rebounder and he started. You don't see that from a lot of people in coaching.

Q: What do you think of Coach McCaffery?

MOE: I told someone else this, that is the first college coach that I shook hands with since I left Iowa 25 years ago. All of the ex-players love him because he is trying to bring back some of the old players and making them part of the program. Everyone really likes him and he will get it turned around. Plus, the style of play. Obviously I really like the style of play. If we are going to lose, at least we can do it with style, but I know he is going to get this program turned around.