CARROLLTON, Ga. - The annual West Georgia Basketball Alumni Reunion will this season feature an added bonus. The event, set for February 29, will include a special recognition for a West Georgia legend; former athletic director and head coach Roger Kaiser.
 
The reunion is set for February 29 in The Coliseum as West Georgia hosts Shorter in the 2019-20 regular season finale. The women's game will tip at 2 p.m., with the men's game following at 4:00. The special recognition for Kaiser will add to the lengthy list of accolades he has accumulated over his long and successful career.
 
Kaiser came to West Georgia as the school's athletic director in 1969. A year later he assumed the post as head basketball coach, beginning a 20-year run of unparalleled success for the program. In his second season West Georgia won 28 games and advanced to the NAIA National Tournament for the first time. It was the beginning of a three-year run that featured a record of 80 wins and 15 losses.
 
The final year of that three-year run also brought a national title. The Braves, as the school's teams were then known, posted a record of 29-4. It included a five-game run through the NAIA National Tournament in Kansas City, culminating with an 87-79 win over Alcorn State to claim the first basketball national championship ever won by a Georgia collegiate program at any level.
 
West Georgia's winning continued a year later as the program moved to NCAA Division II. The season ended with a bid to the NCAA Tournament, the first of seven NCAA appearances under Kaiser, including the host spot in the 1983 South Regional. Kaiser's teams won back-to-back Gulf South Conference regular season titles in 1986 and 1987, West Georgia's second-and-third seasons of play in the league. Also, the 1987 team captured the GSC Tournament title.
 
Kaiser was a 1998 inductee into the University of West Georgia Athletic Hall of Fame. He is also a member of other halls of fame, including the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, the Indiana Basketball Hall Fame, and the Georgia Tech Hall of Fame. Kaiser was a two-sport star at Tech, was a two-time All-America selection in basketball, and was the 1961 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year.
 
Former women's and men's basketball players and cheerleaders are invited to this year's reunion. Along with the games and special ceremony honoring Kaiser, the day's events include a reception in the Coliseum Skybox, and formal remarks between games of the double header. Activities conclude with a postgame Meet-and-Greet at the Irish Bred Pub in downtown Carrollton.
 
All basketball and cheerleading alumni are encouraged to register for the event by the February 21^st deadline. Information is available at alumni.westga.edu, or by contacting Denice Perdue, UWG Assistant Director of Alumni Relations at 678-839-6582.