PUEBLO, Colo. (May 9, 2023) - It has been 20 months since the passing Colorado prep and collegiate standout Sam Batey and his legacy as an athlete, educator, husband and father will be honored in late July at a golf tournament at his favorite course at Denver City Park.
 
Sam Batey Sr., passed away on July 19, 2021 after a five-decade educational career in Denver where he lived with his wife Barbara and raised two children - Sam Jr. and Dana.  While basketball helped shape his life, golf was his passion as he and Barbara enjoyed playing at Denver City Park with family and friends.
 
The Sam Batey Legacy Golf Tournament will be played the morning of July 28 to raise money for a scholarship at Colorado State University Pueblo, where the elder Batey played basketball for four seasons as a school transitioned from a junior college to a four-year institution.
 
Batey Sr., enrolled in Pueblo Junior College in the fall of 1961 along with Barbara, who also was a freshman from New Orleans.  Prior to entering PJC, Batey Sr. was a standout at Denver East High.  During his four-seasons in Pueblo., Batey Sr., scored 1,869 points in 108 games (17.3 average) for the then-Indians and amassed a three-season total of1,431 rebounds in 81 games (17.6 average).
 
Dana Batey-Hurd, who works as a medical health representative in Denver, remembers her father's "patience, and his calm demeanor especially when he attempted to teach me how to golf.  My dad was a true coach as he worked on my swing.  It took many years and I finally learned one of the sports he loved."
 
The elder Batey's passion carried over to Dana's son Pryce.  "Pryce got his first golf club at the age of 5 and played competitively throughout high school and is an active player today.  He has filled in for my dad and has the same patience and calm demeanor as his grandfather and is giving me some great tools and tips as I learn this game of golf."
 
Sam Batey Jr., who lives and teaches in Atlanta and will return to co-host the inaugural Sam Batey Legacy Golf Tournament with his mother, sister and the Colorado State University Pueblo Foundation, said he has "so many memories of my father.  I would tag along with him everywhere when he was coaching, and he would always have a job for me to do, such as collecting the balls, getting towels or sweeping the floor before practice or a game."
 
Another special memory for Sam Jr., was during his senior year at Denver George Washington High and his father was the Athletic Director at crosstown rival Thomas Jefferson where the elder Batey was an assistant principal.
 
""It was a big game at TJ, and I had one of my best contests as a Patriot," said Batey Jr.  "Dad was sitting on the TJ bench, and I remember how proud and excited he was watching me play as he tried to restrain himself while sitting on the Spartan bench."
 
Both of Batey's siblings had children that participated in sports.  In addition, Pryce Hurd developed the logo and promotional materials associated with the Sam Batey Legacy Golf Tournament as he finishes his work for a master's degree in English at the University of Colorado.
 
With an undergraduate degree from the University of Arizona, Pryce Hurd works as a communicator specializing in photography, videography and graphic design for the largest healthcare union in Colorado.
 
"Through both his advocacy work and his academic pursuits, Pryce has been able to highlight the transformative power of centering the voices of the most marginalized through art," said Dana Batey Hurd
 
Brooklyn Batey, Dana's daughter, grew up as a multi-sport athlete. She was an all-state field hockey and lacrosse player at Colorado Academy and an all-conference point guard in basketball.
 
"She didn't start playing lacrosse until her freshman year of high school but wanted to try something different for her spring sport," said Dana. "Interestingly, a lot of the defensive fundamentals of basketball translate to lacrosse defense so the transition from court to field was almost natural for her."
 
Brooklyn, who had multiple offers to play field hockey and lacrosse in college and decided to play lacrosse at the University of Denver, is now the Chief of Staff for Kode with Klossy - a nonprofit in Washington, D. C., that focuses on providing Computer Science and STEM opportunities for girls and other underrepresented groups in the field.  She coaches middle school lacrosse in her free time.
 
Dana Batey Hurd also said her father got "Brooklyn involved in golf at a young age, and she was able to pick it up quickly. She and Pryce often played with my parents on many of the courses in Denver and when they traveled across the country,  They were a great foursome!"
 
Sam Batey Jr's daughters both competed collegiately in sports with Morgan playing basketball at Vanderbilt and Jordan participating in tennis at Temple.
 
"Grandpa (Papa) was always supportive and frequently advised Morgan that when she didn't have the ball in her hands, he would tell her to always make herself available on the court," said Sam Batey Jr. "He told her to keep shooting and keep practicing."
 
Morgan Batey 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 hoop career in Europe and averaged 13.0 points per contest during the 2022 season for LaTronche in France.
 
Jordan Batey's tennis career at Temple featured a 67-31 singles record with a 33-34 doubles mark 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.
 
"Like Morgan, my wife Cherie and I exposed Jordan to various sports," said Sam Jr. "We competed in a neighborhood recreational tennis league and Jordan would grab a racket and start hitting balls against the practice wall and our coach said she was a natural for the game."
 
From there, Sam Jr. and Cherie got Jordan to join tennis camp and "over the years she continued to develop her skills and excelled at each level. By the time she was 10, she had begun competing in tournaments and her rankings rose national that earned exposure leading to scholarship offers."
 
Sam Jr's final story about his Dad's involvement and influence on his grandchildren was about a trip to Nashville in 2011 to visit a family member.
 
"Dad was on the Vanderbilt campus," said Sam Jr. "So naturally, he made his way to the basketball facilities. As he was in the vestibule area viewing some of the memorabilia, he was approached by a men's basketball coaching staff member."
 
Sam Jr. said during the conversation with the coach, "Dad said he had a granddaughter who was an outstanding basketball player and that the coach should advise someone on the women's staff that they must take a look at her.  A month later, a Vanderbilt coach attended several of Morgan's games.  That led to a scholarship offer."
 
As Sam Jr. stated, "Dad's pride resulted in a full-ride scholarship for his granddaughter. If Dad had not bragged to the men's coach that day, she likely would have never been on Vanderbilt's' radar. We can say that Morgan certainly did her part and excelled on the court; however, this opportunity at Vanderbilt would not have come to be without Granddad's (Papa's) influence."