Roger "Chipper" Bagwell, who coached basketball at Lander for 19 years, started the Lander men's golf team in 2005 and will also serve as the head coach for the first women's golf program, set to begin competition in 2011.

Under Bagwell's direction, the men's program has been ranked as high as No. 7 in the nation and has qualified for two national championship tournaments.

He was the head men's basketball coach for eight years and the head women's coach for three and posted a combined 158-130 record. He also served eight years as the assistant men's basketball coach.

In his final year as the women's coach, Lander was 21-3 with a 19-game winning streak and was ranked as high as No. 3 in the the national poll. In his second season as the men's head coach in 1998-99, Lander, 25-7 overall, won the Peach Belt Conference regular-season championship, the South Atlantic Regional title and advanced to the NCAA's Elite Eight in Louisville, Ky.

Bagwell attended Ware Shoals High School where he was a four-sport letterman. He went on to play baseball at Anderson College before transferring to Lander to finish his degree.

At Lander, he also served as the first Director of the Big Blue Club (now the Bearcat Club). Bagwell developed the Big Blue Basketball Camps into an event where players and teams come to enhance their skills each summer. Bagwell also serves as assistant athletics director for sports marketing.

Bagwell, who is a member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, earned a master's degree in guidance and counseling and secondary administration at Clemson University.

Bagwell is married to the former Margaret Freeman and they have three children: John, Kevin and Beth. They also have three grandchildren: Ryne, Elisabeth and Peyton. He is the son of Ed and Jewell Bagwell of Aiken.