Matt Braeuer is one of college basketball's best rising coaches, but his story is incomplete without his late father

The image of his late dad, Ed Braeuer, standing on the sideline at Cameron Indoor Stadium lights up and as he glances at it, Matt Braeuer lights up too. Braeuer takes a second to slow down from his life’s blistering pace and soak it all in. There’s no way he’s going to gloss over the text that just popped up.

He isn’t unfamiliar with the gist of messages like this, but he’s amazed nonetheless as he stares at his phone. Braeuer figured that texts like this would have subsided by now, yet he still opens his phone once or twice a year to a reminder that his late father’s impact is still felt. It’s been 12 years since Ed passed away unexpectedly at 51, but his family is certain his legacy is being carried forward by those he once poured into.

Ed was a teacher and hard-nosed basketball coach, but those who knew him believe that he loved teaching more. His proficiency with numbers and passion for science led him to teach chemistry and AP physics. When Ed retired from coaching after Braeuer went to Wichita State, he stayed a teacher and took on more administrative duties at Benton High School.

Braeuer estimates that his father had a far greater impact on those he taught than anyone else. When he passed away, Braeuer’s phone was inundated with messages from his father’s former students, many of whom he didn’t know, telling him how much Ed impacted their lives. Some credited him with helping them pursue a college education. Some recalled Ed helping them learn to study or handle situations maturely. Some were thankful for how Ed taught them to treat others.

“All they talked about was the impact that he had on their lives,” Braeuer told Basket Under Review. “I thought that was really cool because I didn’t get to see that as much. I wasn’t in every class he taught. I saw him coach all the time, but I wasn’t in his classes all the time. That was probably the coolest thing for me as his son, just hearing from all the people that he impacted that wasn’t actually about coaching.”

The messages had a tangible impact on Braeuer during that emotional time, but what moved him most is that he’s received them for the last 12 years.