As West Virginia University’s Associate Athletics Director for Communications, Bryan Messerly manages the day-to-day responsibilities of the WVU Athletics Communications Office. Messerly directs, plans and implements WVU’s media relations and publicity through social media and news media for WVU’s intercollegiate athletic program. He is the primary communications contact for the Mountaineer men’s basketball and golf teams.
Messerly is in his 32nd year with WVU’s Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. He is in his 26th season serving as the men’s basketball publicist and 19th year of directing the WVU Athletics Communications Office.
In his 25 years with the men’s basketball team, the Mountaineers have made 13 NCAA Tournament appearances, including two NCAA Elite Eight appearances, seven NCAA Sweet 16 appearances, the 2010 NCAA Final Four and captured the 2010 Big East Championship title. During that time, WVU has appeared in four National Invitation Tournaments, including an NIT title in 2007.
WVU has had 36 basketball players earn all-conference honors during Messerly’s tenure, including 12 first-team selections (Big East and Big 12). Messerly has coordinated the promotion of six basketball All-Americans: In 2006, Kevin Pittsnogle became WVU’s first men’s basketball All-American since 1972. Da’Sean Butler earned All-America honors in 2010, Kevin Jones did so in 2012, Juwan Staten in 2015, Jevon Carter in 2018 and Derek Culver in 2021.
Messerly has also promoted four first team Academic All-Americans, including two Academic All-Americans of the Year for men’s basketball (Johannes Herber, 2006 and Jevon Carter, 2018). He oversaw the publicity efforts for Butler winning the 2010 Senior CLASS Award, and Jevon Carter winning the NABC Defensive Player of the Year (twice), Lefty Driesell Defensive Player of the Year (twice), Naismith Defensive Player of the Year and the men's basketball Senior CLASS Award.
Prior to his current role, Messerly spent seven years (2000-07) as WVU’s associate sports information director following a three-year stint as assistant sports information director at Virginia Tech (1997-2000).
At Virginia Tech, he was the primary contact for the men’s basketball, volleyball, wrestling, swimming & diving and softball teams, and was the secondary contact for the football team that played in the 2000 BCS National Championship. Messerly coordinated the publicity for the Michael Vick Heisman campaign and accompanied Vick to the 1999 Heisman Trophy ceremony in New York, where Vick's third-place finish matched the highest finish ever by a freshman up to that point. Also at Tech, Messerly was the media coordinator for the 1999 Atlantic 10 Softball Championship, the 1998 NCAA East Region Women’s Tennis Championship and was the assistant media coordinator for the 1999 NCAA East Regional Women’s Basketball tournament.
A native of Weirton, West Virginia, Messerly worked in WVU’s Athletic Communications Office as a graduate assistant from 1995-97, and as a student assistant from 1991-95. He was the contact for the 1996 and 1997 NCAA national champion rifle team and assisted with the publicity efforts for the 1996 Big East champion baseball team. Messerly also served as the publicity contact for wrestling, men’s and women’s track & field and men’s and women’s cross country.
Messerly is a member of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), United States Basketball Writers Association, WVU’s all-time sports committee and the West Virginia Sports Writers Association. He is on the selection committee for the Jerry West Outstanding Shooting Guard Award, given annually to the top shooting guard in college basketball by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Messerly has been the editor or co-editor of more than 45 publications that have been awarded national or district recognition from CoSIDA, including several that were tabbed as best in the nation. He has earned several awards of excellence regionally and nationally for writing by CoSIDA.
He was named Big 12 Men's Basketball SID of the Year by the Big 12 "Radio Voices" in 2020 and was presented with a 25-year CoSIDA award at the 2022 CoSIDA Convention in Las Vegas.
Messerly earned two degrees from WVU: a bachelor’s degree in business administration/finance in 1995 and a master’s degree in sport management in 1997. He was the recipient of the Sears Directors’ Cup Postgraduate Scholarship Award in 1996.
He and his wife, April, who is WVU’s Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director for Capital Projects, Facilities and Event Management, have a son, Judd, and a daughter, Carper.
