Then & Now: Keith Moody

Then & Now: Keith Moody

Compiled By Dave Brandon (Photo

Courtesy NU Media Relations)

Keith

Moody is one of the more intriguing players in Nebraska

basketball history. Besides being a part of Danny Nee's

first NCAA tournament team at Nebraska, and perhaps the

best team in school history in 1990-1991, Moody also

spent a year playing football at Virginia Tech.

Keith recently joined HHC to talk a

little Husker Hoops. 

HHC: Keith, we're

glad you decided to take a trip down memory lane with

us.

KM:  My pleasure. 

It's always great to reminisce about the "glory days" of

Husker hoops with the fellas!

HHC: Before we get to

your Nebraska days, lets talk a little bit about your

intriguing past. First, from all accounts, you were an

outstanding quarterback in high school at Herndon,

Virginia, and recruited harder on the gridiron than on

the court. You ultimately ended up playing one year at

Virginia Tech as a redshirt quarterback. What made you

decide to choose football over basketball, and did the

fact that many saw you as more talented in football play

a part in your decision?

KM:  It was a very

tough decision between which sport to pursue more in

college, football or basketball?  The funny thing was in

high school, we got more publicity & recognition in

football as a team finishing 11-1, winning the Great

Falls District Title, but losing in the Northern

Region Finals in Northern Virginia.  Comparatively to

basketball, we finished 24-6 and also lost in the

Northern Region Finals as well.  We were one of the top

teams in the area in football, but in basketball there

were a number of good teams then, so it seems like we

got more press for football and that kind of swayed my

decision on pursuing football at the next level, but I

never lost that love for basketball.  If I had to do it

all over again, I would have attempted to play both

sports at Nebraska.  The football coaches approached me

about it playing DB at Nebraska, but I thought it would

be best to focus just on basketball at the time.

HHC: As you reflect

almost twenty years later, what were your times in

Blacksburg like, and what did they teach you? Was it

while at Virginia Tech that you knew basketball was your

true love, or did you know this well before that time?

KM:  If I only knew

then what I know now!  I was such a young "pup" enjoying

being a scholarship athlete on such a big college campus

and not truly organizing my priorities.  As most

freshmen find out quickly, a college sport requires a

lot of organization & time, not only in that sport, but

also in the classroom.  Every day after football

practice & weights, I would end up in the gym

playing basketball and missing that sport more & more. 

We even put together a squad of freshmen from the

football team to play against the (at the time) JV

basketball squad and would run them out of the gym every

time!  That is probably where I started to make that

transformation from football to basketball, mentally.  I

learned that you need good organizational skills to

balance out that daily schedule to stay ahead.

HHC: After one season

at Virginia Tech and a year off to focus on academics,

you ended up at Hagerstown Junior College (Md.) to play

basketball. At what point did Nebraska enter the picture

in basketball, and what made you venture halfway across

the country to Lincoln?

KM:   When I

eventually ended up at Hagerstown, I had to sit out the

first semester because I didn't have enough credits

transferring in to be eligible to play right away. So, I

had to focus even harder on the books then, but I

practiced with the team everyday even though I was

basically on the 3rd team.  That made my desire so

strong then and I was so determined to succeed in

basketball that once I became legible, I was going to

kill everyone on the court.  I instantly started at the

point once I became eligible on the first day of the 2nd

semester.  We won our region and advanced to the NJCAA

Tournament out in Hutchinson, KS.  We were paired

against the College of Southern Idaho, who at the time

was ranked #1 in the country.  We were big underdogs,

but as is the case so many times, we out worked them and

upset them by 6 and were the toast of the town during

the rest of the tournament.  I was fortunate enough to

have a very successful tournament and so I started

receiving scholarship offers from schools out in the

Midwest & western regions.  Nebraska came after me with

an offer to play right away & great education. I liked

what I saw down in Lincoln and so I made the decision to

go there.

HHC: Now this is

honestly true... When you first got to Lincoln, some

thought your arms were too strong and you might be "too

ripped" to shoot from the outside at a high percentage.

Our first question is, do you think that is the dumbest

thing you've ever heard like we do? Second, did this

help you pick up the ladies back in the day?

KM:  Too funny!  I do

admit I was & still am built compact like a football

player & I do remember hearing the "talk" back then on

campus that there is a football player playing point

guard for the basketball team.  I bulked up so much

at Virginia Tech in the weight room preparing

for football, that during my first semester at

Hagerstown, I quietly was taking aerobic classes in the

auditorium to "slim" down.  One day my coach, Jim

Brown was passing through and happened to glance up on

stage and found me dancing around with about 15 other

women/teachers, NO OTHER MEN!  He actually sat down and

watched in amazement and appreciated what I was doing to

get ready to play ball when I became eligible.  Now as

far as the second question about the ladies . . .  NO

COMMENT, but they know.

HHC: While we have

the chance, and speaking of the ladies, who were the

"true ladies men" on your two teams?

KM:  Hmmmm, there are

just some secrets that I just cannot give out.  Maybe

over a beer or two, we can have this "private"

conversation, but we did have a few "ladies men" on the

team then…

HHC: Okay, sorry,

back on track, but we think Cresswell was one...Anyway,

your first year at Nebraska, you stepped in and

contributed right away, playing in all twenty eight

games and finishing second on the team in assists.

However, the team finished a miserable 10-18. The next

year would be much different, obviously, but be honest;

did you have any clue at that point what was in store a

year later?

KM:  Not at all and

to be honest, I don't think anyone on the team

including the coaches did either.  We had good

individual players, but could not put it together as a

team and did not know each other well enough to trust

each other on & off the court.  In the off-season, we

simply hung together as group/team in everything we did

to become unified and establish that trust amongst each

other.  When practice opened up in the fall, we were

hungry and anxious to show the Big 8 and nation what we

could do.  Everything was falling in place as we had a

great season, but finished short of our goals (Big 8

Championship & advance to 2nd round of NCAA) even though

we finished with the best record in school history of

26-8.  That is why most of us from that team are still

close & talk today.

HHC: Now, onto

1990-1991, which we still get goose bumps

thinking about. You were pre-season picked eighth in the

Big 8, and of course went on to a 3rd place Big 8 finish

with a 26-8 record, fourteen straight weeks in the top

twenty-five, a fourteen game winning streak, the

school's second NCAA tournament appearance, and a finish

in some polls as high as nine. As a team, what are you

most proud of from that year, and just elaborate about

your memories?

KM:  There were so

many great memories of that glorious season.  The big

win at Oklahoma and sarcastically smiling at Billy Tubbs

as I shook his hand (they beat us by 39 the year

before)!  Finally beating Kansas at home.  The buzzer

beater by Beau Reid at home against Michigan St.

(Steve Smith talked trash the whole game, but was cool

about it). Beating Doug Smith & Anthony Peeler of

Missouri at home and of course our double overtime

victory in the opening round of the Big 8 Tournament

against Oklahoma!  The best memories though were the

plane rides to & from the games or in the locker room as

there were many, many jokes/pranks on each other and

coaches included (although we were too scared to get

Coach Nee).

HHC: We can't talk

about 1990-1991 without talking about "the shot" against

Oklahoma in the first round of the Big 8

tournament. Since you know exactly what we're talking

about, walk us through the moment and tell us what

happened. Also, what did it mean to you then and what it

does mean to you now?

KM:  I remember being

down by almost 10 points late in the game and Coach Nee

calling a timeout and getting a technical foul to pump

us up.  He chewed us out during that timeout on the

court and it worked.  We started to make our run as most

of our starters fouled out of the game, but the momentum

was on our side by then.  They were at the foul line

shooting a 1-&-1 with only about 8 seconds left and up

by 3 points.  They missed the first shout and we got the

rebound and I was sprinting up court with the ball

looking for Chris Cresswell because everyone in the

gym was covering Pike!  I didn't have a clear path to

Chris and as I was approaching the top of the key with

the clock running out, I looked down to ensure I was

behind the 3 point line and then jumped up to still

possibly pass to one of those guys, but to shoot if I

had to and since nobody was open (don't argue Chris) I

pulled the trigger and let the shot fly and it dropped

in to tie the game.  Everyone on the bench was jumping

up & down and the ball just kept bouncing as the clock

ticked towards zero.  It seemed like a big panic because

all 10 guys on the floor from both teams were just

running around trying to cover one another.  Once we got

into OT, we had all the confidence in the world and just

knew the game was ours.  Our intensity picked up on both

ends of the court as we simply wore them down for the

victory.  It was hard to go to bed that night because we

were so pumped up and everyone in our hotel was partying

for most of the evening!  That memory will last for the

rest of my life and I still get people to this day that

ask me about it.  The funny thing is that the following

year, Jamar Johnson hit a buzzer beater at home to beat

KU and people mistake me for hitting that shot . . .

thanks Jamar!

HHC: We can't let you

go without asking you for a classic Danny Nee story.

From already talking to several former players, we are

convinced you could write a book with hilarious Nee

stories. Could you add one or two for us?

KM:  Well, Beau Reid

stole my hilarious story about the "cage" at Coach Nee's house

so let me think of another story.  Well, I can't think

of one single story, but there are many, many little

episodes from Coach Nee in practice.  He was such an

intense guy on & off the court, we were constantly

walking on "egg shells" whenever we were around him

because he could blow up at any minute.  We would avoid

walking by his office to & from practice because you did

not want to get called into his office by yourself! 

There were many times somebody would make a stupid, but

honest mistake in practice and he would stop practice

instantly, curse you out and make the entire team run

(damn, this feels like a tell all book).  After practice

in the locker room, you would hear about it from all

your teammates!

HHC: And today, Keith

Moody is doing what, living where, and still playing

hoops or no?

KM:  Today life is

great.  I currently live in Omaha, NE and work for a

great company called CSG Systems, Inc.  I also have a

beautiful 16-month-old son name Donovan from my

girlfriend of 11 years (I know it is a long time to not

be married).  I still work out like a mad man (twice a

day still) and play hoops in multiple leagues, still

chasing that dream of going pro like my ex-teammates

(excluding Pike) . . . hahahaha! 

HHC: Are you cool

with taking e-mails at

[email protected] and talking with some

of our readers?

KM:  Certainly.  It

would be great to communicate with all of the readers! 

HHC: Awesome, thanks

a lot for catching up with us Keith. We'll e-mail you if

we need advice on how to stay chiseled and pick up the

ladies, all right?

KM:   My pleasure and

good luck with this website.  It is off to a great

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