 He was inducted into the Italian Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008, and into the Russian VTB United League Hall of Fame, in 2019.Messina also previously worked with the San Antonio Spurs, as an assistant coach for Gregg Popovich, from 2014 to 2019.Messina had two different stints (1989–1993 and 1997–2002) as the head coach at the Italian League team, Virtus Bologna.