Born in 1968 in Ider, Beatty was one of the most decorated girls basketball players in DeKalb County history. She started as a seventh grader at Ider until her graduation in 1986. She was All-County from eighth grade on, and All-State from ninth grade to her senior season. She led Ider to the state championship in 1985 and she was named a Kodak All-American in 1986. Beatty then signed an athletic scholarship to play basketball at the University of Alabama, where she was a 2-year starter her junior and senior seasons for the Crimson Tide.
