Elwood Snow "Woody" Romney (May 28, 1911 – August 24, 1970) was an American basketball player and coach. He was an

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

(BYU) and later played semi-professionally. After his playing days, Romney coached at the college level and worked in other high-profile sports endeavors. Romney, a forward from

St. George, Utah St. George or Saint George is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Utah, United States. Located in southwestern Utah on the Arizona border, it is the principal city of the St. George metropolitan statistical area (MSA). The cit ...

, starred at Dixie High School and played collegiately at

Brigham Young Brigham Young ( ; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1847 until h ...

from 1929 to 1933. Romney led the Cougars to a pair of Rocky Mountain Conference titles. He was named a consensus

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

and again made the

Helms Athletic Foundation The Helms Athletic Foundation, founded in 1936, was a Los Angeles-based organization dedicated to the promotion of athletics and sportsmanship. Paul H. Helms was the organization's founder and benefactor, funding the foundation via his owner ...

All-America team in

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

. Romney scored 1,150 points in his BYU career.2009–10 BYU men's basketball media guide
/ref> After the completion of his college career, Romney played semi-professional basketball with the Denver Athletic Club for two seasons.Jefferson County Republican, March 16, 1939. He then coached collegiately, first at

Western State College Western Colorado University (WCU or Western) is a public university in Gunnison, Colorado. It enrolls approximately 3,000 undergraduate and 450 graduate students, with 25 percent coming from out of state. Western offers more than 100 undergradua ...

for the 1935–36 season (13–7 record), then at the

Colorado School of Mines The Colorado School of Mines (Mines) is a public research university in Golden, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1874, the school offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering, science, and mathematics, with a focus on ener ...

from 1936 to 1939 (9–45 record). Romney was hired at Mines to also work in multiple sports, and during his tenure at Mines Romney also coached freshman football and was credited with creating a great deal of interest in intramural sports to where 300 students were taking part by the time he departed in 1939. While living at

Golden, Colorado Golden is a home rule city that is the county seat of Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 20,399 at the 2020 United States census. Golden lies along Clear Creek at the base of the Front Range of the Rocky Moun ...

Romney also sold automobiles and spearheaded the revival of the Golden Plunge, Golden's community swimming pool, formulating a business plan and leading the successful community effort to purchase and reopen it on July 4, 1938. He owned and ran it successfully until selling it in October 1941. After leaving coaching, Elwood Romney remained active in sports in Colorado. He was a key figure in founding the Western League, a

minor-league baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

circuit, and served as league president. He also owned the

Denver Bears Denver ( ) is a consolidated city and county, the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. It is located in the Western United States, in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains east of th ...

franchise. In personal life, Romney was married to Ruth Hafen on June 26, 1928. They had three children: Jerry Elwood Romney, Janice Ruth Romney, and Jean Romney. Elwood Romney was the son of Erastus Snow Romney and Roxie Maria Stowell and grandson of

Miles Park Romney Miles Park Romney (August 18, 1843 – February 26, 1904) was a prominent American builder in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was born in Nauvoo, Illinois, the son of Miles Romney. He was the president of the St. George Soci ...

and Annie Marie Woodbury. By this relation Elwood was a first cousin of

George W. Romney George Wilcken Romney (July 8, 1907 – July 26, 1995) was an American businessman and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as chairman and president of American Motors Corporation from 1954 to 1962, the 43rd gove ...

and is ancestral cousin of his son

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...

. Elwood Romney was inducted into the BYU Athletics Hall of Fame, the Helms Athletic Foundation Hall of Fame and the Utah Sports Hall of Fame. He died on August 24, 1970.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Romney, Elwood 1911 births 1970 deaths All-American college men's basketball players Amateur Athletic Union men's basketball players American Latter Day Saints American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Utah Basketball players from Salt Lake City BYU Cougars men's basketball players College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Colorado Mines Orediggers men's basketball coaches Forwards (basketball) People from St. George, Utah Sportspeople from Washington County, Utah Elwood Basketball players from Provo, Utah Western Colorado Mountaineers men's basketball coaches