SAN ANGELO - Angelo State Hall of Honoree and legendary men's basketball coach Ed Messbarger passed away Monday at the age of 81.

Messbarger won 630 games in his 41-year college coaching career, 20 of those years at Angelo State (1978-98).

Messbarger will be remembered for many things, but most importantly he was cherished by the many young men that he coached during his hall of fame career.

His toughness, dedication, compassion and loyalty were traits that were on a daily display during his life and coaching career and those characteristics were instilled in his players both on and off the court.

As successful as he was on the court, his proudest accomplishment was his family.  He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Jane, as well as daughters Tisha, Monica and son Eddie along with nine grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

When he arrived on the Angelo State campus in 1978 he had to replace a legend, his boss, Phil George.

George led the Rams to a national junior college title in 1957 and 512 victories.

Big shoes to fill indeed, but Messbarger put together a solid foundation for the ASU program and in 1981-82 the Rams put together a 19-9 record including a 10-6 mark in the Lone Star Conference, the second best league mark in school history.  

The following season ASU advanced to the semifinals of the LSC Tournament, losing on the road to regular season and tournament champion Stephen F. Austin in overtime.

Messbarger's 1983-84 team won the LSC tournament title and won the most games in the four-year era of Ram basketball with a 22-7 mark.  He was named LSC Coach of the Year.  The Rams won the league title with an 83-80 victory over East Texas State on its home floor.  Greg Wolff earned first team All-LSC honors that year while Kenny Smith was MVP of the LSC Tournament.

The following season the Rams posted a 19-win season and advanced to the finals of the LSC Tournament again, falling to ACU in Abilene.

In 1987-88 the Rams had a breakthrough season, winning the LSC regular season and postseason titles with a 22-11 overall mark and a near perfect 11-1 conference slate, earning the school's first ever bid to the NCAA Division II National Tournament.  

That record setting team started slow, 1-4, but rallied to win 21 of its next 27 games before falling to South Dakota State in the NCAA regional tournament.  Messbarger was named the LSC Coach of the Year.

The following year the Rams again won the LSC regular season crown with an 11-3 mark and defeated Texas A&M-Kingsville on their homecourt 84-66, avenging a loss to the Javelinas a week earlier.  ASU lost to Southeast Missouri State before bouncing back to defeat Northwest Missouri State in the regional third place game.

Tim Howard, Chris Mason and Bobby Darnell were the backbone of those Ram teams as Howard earned 1st team All-LSC honors both seasons while Mason and Darnell each earned second team All-LSC accolades.  Howard was league MVP in 1989.  Howard was also LSC Tournament MVP in 1988, Mason took home the honor in 1989 and Darnell was named LSC Defensive Player of the Year in 1989.

During that eight-year run from 1981 through 1989 the Rams put together the best run in the four-year program history compiling a 145-89 record.

The Rams put together another good stretch from 1993-95, reaching the semifinals of the LSC Tournament both seasons and produced the school's first NCAA Division 2 All-American in Ed Wheeler.  Wheeler was also named LSC MVP in 1994.

He became the first four-year coach in the state of Texas to win 600 games while he was at ASU and joined fellow Northwest Missouri State graduate Henry Iba (Northwest Missouri State class of 1928) in the 600-win club.

Messbarger was raised in St. Joseph, Mo. and graduated from Christian Brothers High School and attended Northwest Missouri State in nearby Maryville.

He was a two-year letterwinner for the Bearcat football team (1954, 1955) and graduated in 1956.

After a short stint coaching high school basketball, he jumped into the college coaching ranks, becoming head coach at Benedictine Heights College in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

After three seasons at Benedictine Heights and the University of Dallas, he landed the head coaching position at St. Mary's in San Antonio.

It didn't take long for him to get St. Mary's headed in the right direction, leading the Rattlers to their first NAIA national tournament bid in his first season in 1963-64.  That first squad had to earn it the hard way, dropping the first of a best of three series to East Texas State before rallying to win the final two games and earning a trip to Kansas City.

Messbarger put St. Mary's on the small college national map during his tenure, making four national tournament appearances, advancing to the national quarterfinals three times, twice getting to the semifinals, and never losing a first or second round game.

St. Mary's had some memorable victories in the national tournament with Messbarger at the helm.

In 1964, the unseeded Rattlers upset No. 3 Grambling and future NBA Hall of Famer Willis Reed.  The Rattlers advanced to the quarterfinals, only to fall to eventual national champion Rockhurst.

In 1967, Messbarger's squad again advanced to the quarterfinals only to fall to No. 1 seed and eventual champion St. Benedict's (now Benedictine College).

In the 1974 and 1975 national tournaments, Messbarger led St. Mary's to a pair of fourth place finishes.

In 1974 the 16th seeded Rattlers upset No. 1 Fairmont State (WV) and No. 8 Augustana (SD) before falling to No. 4 Alcorn State in the national semifinals.

The following year St. Mary's was seeded No. 8 and won a showdown against legendary coach Clarence "Big House" Gaines in the national quarterfinals as the Rattlers beat Winston-Salem State before losing to longtime coaching rival Dr. Gerald Stockton and Midwestern State in the semifinals.

Stockton wasn't the only coaching notable he matched wits with while at St. Mary's.  For two years he shared the same conference stage with Billy Tubbs (1971-73) at Southwestern, dueled with the man who would later hired him at ASU, Phil George, and tangled with Illinois and New Mexico State legend Lou Henson when he was the head man at Hardin-Simmons.

In 15 seasons at St. Mary's, Messbarger compiled a record of 279-139 and won 13 Big State Conference titles.

Some of his St. Mary's star players included future NBA star Robert Reid and the school's all-time leading scorer Doug Williams (1966-70, 2,246 points).

Ten different players earned first team all-conference in Messbarger's 15 seasons with seven of those earning NAIA All-America honors.

Another one of his star players was Buddy Meyer who was an All-Big State pick all four years at St. Mary's and played his junior and senior seasons for Messbarger.  Meyer joined Messbarger's staff as an assistant in 1968 before taking over in 1978, leading St. Mary's to a national title in 1989.
 
Coach Ed Messbarger (630-518, 41 years)
Angelo State University:  267-286 (1978-98)
St. Mary's University:  279-139 (1963-78)
University of Dallas:  24-52 (1960-63)
Benedictine Heights:  60-41 (1957-60)
 
NAIA National Tournament 1964, 1967, 1974, 1975 @ St. Mary's
1964
Beat No. 14 Central Connecticut 64-62; Beat No. 3 Grambling 72-66; lost to No. 10 Rockhurst 59-54 (quarterfinals)  - Rockhurst won

1967
Seeded No. 8 – Beat Wartburg 59-56; Beat No. 9 Westminster (PA) 55-53; Lost to No. 1 St. Benedict's (KS) 88-73 (quarterfinals) – St. Benedict's won

1974
Seeded No. 16 – Beat Keene State 95-66; Beat No. 1 Fairmont State 71-55; Beat No. 8 Augustana 74-65 (quarterfinals); lost to No. 4 Alcorn State 76-71 (semifinals); lost to No. 2 Kentucky State 95-79 (3rd place game)

1975
Seeded 3rd – Beat Newberry 75-59; Beat Millersville 75-59; Beat No. 11 Winston Salem 67-59 (quarterfinals); Lost to No. 7 Midwestern State 65-60 (semifinals); Lost to No. 8 Alcorn State 76-74 (3rd place game) Highlights
NCAA Division 2 National Tournament
 
 
2012               Inducted into Angelo State Hall of Honor
2006               Inducted into Lone Star Conference Hall of Honor
1991               Inducted into St. Mary's Hall of Fame
1990               Inducted into the Northwest Missouri State M Club Hall of Fame
1990               Inducted into NAIA National Hall of Fame
1987-88           Led Angelo State to the LSC title and a trip to the NCAA Division 2 Tournament
1988-89           Led Angelo State to the LSC title and a trip to the NCAA Division 2 Tournament
1983-84           Led Angelo State to its first ever LSC basketball title, LSC Coach of the Year
1974-75           NAIA National Coach of the Year
1974-75           Led St. Mary's to 4th place finish at NAIA National Tournament
1973-74           Led St. Mary's to 4th place finish at NAIA National Tournament
1973-74           Texas Major College Coach of the Year
1963-64           Named head coach at St. Mary's, led Rattlers to first NAIA National Tournament Appearance