Baseball/Basketball (1966-69)
Inaugural Class (2009)
Era: Southern Colorado State College
Pat Bekeza was one of the first great all-around athletes
at Southern Colorado State College. From 1966-69 he played
basketball at a very high level, helping Harry Simmons' SCSC teams
to two NCAA Division II Regional Tournament berths and finishing
his career ranked 2nd all-time in scoring. Today, 40 years
after he graduated, he is still ranked 7th all-time in school
history in scoring.
But his talent on the hardwood couldn’t be matched by his
talent on the diamond. He gave SCSC baseball teams the
first taste of success the program had ever had. In 1968, he
led the SCSC Indians to a 25-9 record, its first ever berth in
the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Tournament, and was
named to the all-regional tournament team.
In 1969, all he did was hit .464 – with a wood bat –
and was named a first-team All-American.
He was drafted three times – first in 1968 by the San
Francisco Giants, again in January 1969 by the Oakland A’s,
and finally by the Minnesota Twins in June 1969, with which he
signed and played two seasons in their organization.
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