PUEBLO, Colo. (July 30, 2022) - The creation of a multi-sport athletic endowed scholarship at Colorado State University Pueblo has been announced to honor the late Dr. Sam Batey, who was inducted into the school's Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012.
 
Known as the "Chairman of Boards" for his play as a four-season starter for then, Pueblo Junior College and Southern Colorado State College, Dr. Batey passed away on July 19, 2021.  A year and a week following his passing, a reception was held Tuesday (July 26) at the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame Museum at Empower Field in Denver to announce the "Sam Batey Legacy Scholarship" at CSU Pueblo.
 
In announcing the scholarship, Sam Batey Jr. said, "the main goal is to provide financial support for a student-athlete attending CSU Pueblo that hails from the Denver Public School system and participates in one of four sports - basketball, golf, lacrosse or tennis."
 
Batey Jr., who has been recognized as one of the great basketball players in the DPS along with his father, said the sports were picked because "dad's grandchildren participated in those activities in college and high school. My father loved watching each of them compete at both the high school and collegiate level."
 
In concluding his remarks at Tuesday's reception that was attended by more than 70, Batey Jr. said the "inaugural Sam Batey Legacy Golf Tournament will be played on July 28, 2023 at Denver City Park Golf Course.  We are looking to grow support for my father's legacy along with raising funds to enhance his endowed scholarship at CSU Pueblo. He loved playing golf and what better way to remember his legacy."
 
Headlining Tuesday's speakers along with Batey Jr., were CSU Pueblo President Dr. Timothy Mottet, along with the school's Vice President for Athletics and Strategic Partnerships Dr. Paul Plinske, Foundation CEO Todd Kelly and basketball coach Matthew Hammer.
 
Tim and Martha Simmons, who hosted the reception at the CSHOF Museum where their late father (Harry Simmons) was inducted in 1982, also spoke at the reception Tuesday. Batey Sr. was the first player to play four-straight seasons for Harry Simmons, who coached at PJC, then-Southern Colorado State College and the University of Southern Colorado for 34 seasons.
 
Batey Sr., enrolled in Pueblo Junior College in the fall of 1961 along with his Barbara, who also was a freshman from New Orleans. Prior to entering PJC, Batey Sr. was a standout at Denver East High School.  During his four-seasons in Pueblo, Batey Sr., scored 1,869 points in 108 games (17.3 per game average) for the then-Indians and amassed a three-season total of 1,431 rebounds in 81 games (17.6 per game average).
 
During his final two seasons at then-Southern Colorado State College, Batey Sr's rebounding statistics rank among the best-ever compiled by a state of Colorado collegiate basketball player at a four-year school. His 18.5 rebounding average for the 1963-1964 season tied Batey with Dick Brott from the University of Denver (1956-1957) as the highest in Colorado collegiate history.
 
Batey's two-season (1963-1965), four-year average of 16.7 is the best ever compiled by a Colorado collegiate player. Among double-doubles for points and rebounding, Batey's 34.9 combined average (18.2 points, 16.7 rebounds) ranks second behind the University of Colorado's Cliff Meely's 36.4 (1968-1971, 24.3 points, 12.1 rebounds) in Colorado collegiate men's basketball.
 

Barbara and Sam Batey Sr., served as principals in the Denver Public Schools system for over 30 years and earned their doctorate degrees from the University of Colorado in the late 1990s. Barbara continues to live in Denver surrounded by her two children (Sam Jr. and Dana) and four grandchildren (Jordan, Brooklyn, Morgan and Pryce).
 
Sam Jr. is an educator in Atlanta and has worked for the past 12 years in the DeKalb County School District.  He played high school basketball at Denver George Washington before playing two seasons at Montana State Billings and two seasons at Regis University where he led the Rangers in scoring as a senior for Colorado Sports Hall of Fame coach Lonnie Porter. Sam Jr. has two children who are Jordan and Morgan.
 
Dana has worked the past decade for the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy & Financing where she is a Certified Coder/Health Equity Advisor. She attended George Washington before earning her degrees from the University of Colorado where she worked in the football office. Her children are Brooklyn and Pryce.
 
As for Batey's grandchildren, Jordan played tennis at Temple University where she compiled 67-31 singles and 33-34 doubles records before graduating in 2014. She earned a master's degree in finance from Georgia State in 2015. Jordan is a Risk and Compliance Manager with Project Hope Inc.
 
Brooklyn played lacrosse at the University of Denver and graduated in 2016.  After earning a 2019 master's degree from Georgetown University in educational policy, she is the Chief of Staff at Kode with Klossy.
 
Morgan earned two degrees from Vanderbilt where she played basketball for four seasons (2013-2016, 125 games) and averaged 6.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game. She continued her hoops career in Europe and averaged 13.0 points per contest this past season for LaTronche in France.
 
Pryce graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Arizona in 2020 and is a MA candidate in English at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He is currently working as an E-Digital Media Strategist at SEIU Colorado State Council.
 
To make a donation to the Sam Batey Legacy Scholarship, please visit https://www.csupueblo.edu/foundation/donation-form.html.  Details for the Sam Batey Legacy Golf Tournament will be announced this fall.