Here’s all you need to know about the character of Mike Messer.

After receiving the press release announcing his First-Team All-State selection, I paid a visit to the Commons to get his reaction. It was the second consecutive day he took time out of lunch to answer my unoriginal questions about “leadership” and “hard work.” And he didn’t mind one bit.

More suprisingly, his friends knew nothing about the prestigious and well-earned honor. Either he had forgotten to mention it, or, more likely, it just wasn’t important to him.

“All these awards reward individual play. But it’s really about the team,” Messer said.

Is it possible an athlete can be as talented as Messer and still be humble? These days, it almost seems too good to be true. With him though, you better believe it.

 He truly believes that basketball is a team-first game.

In games where he was forced to take over, it had nothing to do with padding his stats or looking good for recruiters. His only concern was sending his teammates home with a victory.

“You kind of expect your senior leader to do that and Michael did.  He’s a real good player and made plays for us when we needed him to,” Coach Scott Allen said.

Now we can only hope that some of Mike’s greatness rubs off on his brother, sophomore Nick Messer. There are some indications that it already, like a 6.4 scoring average which ranked fourth on the team.

But there will never be another Mike Messer.

Whether he is remembered for his signiture baseline drive or Kobe-like pullup jumpshots, one thing is for certain. SIU-Edwardsville will be lucky to have him.