NEWARK, NJ - NJIT Men's Basketball Head Coach Grant Billmeier announced the addition of Thomas Messinger to his coaching staff on Thursday . 

Messinger will serve as an Assistant Coach, joining RaShawn Stores, Pete Lappas, and Mike Hamlin on Billmeier's first coaching staff.

"Thomas brings a wealth of knowledge and experience, while having so many connections up and down the east coast that will help us in recruiting," said Billmeier, who was hired in April. "His record at Hargrave shows his ability to coach and develop young players. He is an outstanding mentor and connects with players in ways that positively impacts them on and off the court."

Messinger comes to Newark after nearly a decade on the coaching staff for the Postgraduate Team at Hargrave Military Academy, including the past three as Head Coach. In three seasons leading the program, Messinger's teams went 114-8 overall and finished #2, #4, and #1 in the final national polls.

In 2022-23, Messinger brought the Hargrave Postgraduate team to new heights, as it finsished 44-2 and closed out the final eight weeks of the season as the #1 team in the national polls. Messinger was honored as the Next Up Recruits National Postgraduate Coach of the Year and the Elite Prep League (EPL) Coach of the Year as Hargrave also won the EPL Regular Season and Tournament Championships. 

Messinger coached several future Division I players at Hargrave, some of which went on to play for programs such as Georgetown, Georgia Tech, Arizona State, UMass, and Fordham.

"I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with and learn from Grant Billmeier and the rest of the staff at NJIT," said Messinger. "Coach Billmeier is an elite person on top of being an elite coach. He is a great basketball mind, a tireless worker and has always done things the right way. I am eager to learn and grow under his tutelage and also help to build something special in Newark."

Messinger played collegiately at Emerson College in Boston and helped lead his team to a program-record 24 wins in 2007-08. He finished his career second in Great Northeast Athletic Conference history in both three-pointers made (252) and three-point field goal percentage (44.0). Messinger graduated from Emerson in 2011 with a degree in Marketing Communication. He went on to earn his Master's Degree in teaching from Smith College in 2012.

A native of Northampton, MA, Messinger was a top player at Northampton High School before wrapping up his high school career with a postgraduate season at Deerfield Academy. At Deerfield, Messinger was named Team MVP, All-NEPSAC, and All-Region.

Messinger is married to his wife Katie and they have one daughter, Millie.