Elwood Brogden Coley, Jr. '73

At Episcopal, Mr. Coley was a vital member of the football, basketball, and baseball teams. He was named All-Prep safety in football and All-Prep in basketball. He served as captain of the basketball team during his junior year and co-captain in his senior year. Mr. Coley won the C.C. Baldwin Award for Sportsmanship, the William Caskie Watts Award for Basketball, the Alexander Spotswood Award for Football Team Morale, and the Rinehart Medal for Athletic Worth. He was also a Senior Monitor and member of the Honor Committee.

Mr. Coley attended the University of North Carolina, where he received the Butch Bennett Award for his determination, sportsmanship, and sacrifice as a freshman basketball player. He later received UNC’s Foy Roberson award for most inspirational player and was co-captain of the 1977 NCAA finals team. Mr. Coley served on the EHS Board of Trustees from 2001 to 2009, and as the chair of the buildings and grounds committee, he was the driving force behind the new athletics center and construction of the Goodwin Hall of Fame Room. He was a recipient of the Board’s Distinguished Service Award in 2011, and he helped found the Episcopal-Woodberry Alumni Golf Challenge, which raises scholarship funds for Woodberry and Episcopal.

Coach Jim Seidule remembers, “Woody played both offense and defense. He was the safety on defense and the hardest hitter on the team. Woody practiced hard and played hard and loved every minute. He rightly deserves to be inducted. He could have been an excellent performer in any sport.”

Mr. Coley says, “I am truly honored to enjoy any association of my name with Episcopal’s tradition of spirited play, and specifically the laureates. We owe so much to those before us that set The High School standard of winning and sportsmanship: our coaches that gave their best years to develop us as athletes and human beings, and our teammates that gave their best in every game.”

Watch a video of Mr. Coley's induction.