A two-time second-team All-Kansas Jayhawk Community College selection at Barton Community College, Colin Beatty has the tools to excel as an NCAA Division-I  basketball player.
Beatty, a 6-foot-4 wing, who used up his eligibility at Barton this past season, has signed to play for the University of Pacific in Stockton, Calif.
The second-leading scorer for BCC this past season, Beatty averaged 13.2 points in Craig Fletchall’s up-tempo brand of offense.
“Colin is a perfect wing for our style of play,” Tigers head coach Bob Thomason said in a statement on the Pacific basketball website. “He can shoot the 3, drive and can create his own shot. His quickness will help our ability to become an up-tempo, fast-breaking team.
“I’m very excited to coach Colin.”
Beatty originally signed to play at Loyola-Chicago last November. But after Ramblers seventh-year head coach Jim Whitesell was fired in mid-March after a 16-15 season, Beatty asked for his release.
“Coach Thomason was recruiting me at the beginning of the season,” said Beatty in a cellular phone interview from Pacific, where Beatty is taking summer school courses. “They came up to Barton a couple times and I liked their coaches.
“After I got my release from Loyola, the only place I was looking at was Pacific because I had a good relationship with Thomason.
“That’s what it came down to.”
Besides having the ability to shoot from outside, Beatty, who produced 20 double-figure outings this past season, could also break down a defender on the drive.
Beatty also had 169 rebounds, 106 assists and 43 steals for the Cougars (19-11) in 2010-11. He had a career-high 35 points against Hesston on Nov. 6, 2010.
As a freshman, he averaged 14.3 points and led the Cougars with an 8.7 rebounding average. He had 25 games where he scored in twin figures, including a season-high 30 points at Brown Mackie College on Jan. 4, 2010.
“I have some good memories from Barton,” Beatty said. “My best memory is beating Hutchinson (70-63 on Jan. 20, 2011), our rival, at their place. That’s a good memory to hold onto.
“Coach Fletchall was a good coach to play for. He could be hard on you sometimes, but as long as you were a coachable player … I had a good relationship with him. If I had a problem, I could go to him.”
Beatty, a native of Lanham, Md., averaged 19.6 points and 8.7 rebounds per game as a senior at DuVal High School, earning Washington Post All-Metro honorable mention honors.