After his playing career, he lived in Co-op City in the Bronx and next spent 12 years working in New York City as a recreation specialist with young disturbed boys. Fulfilling a promise he had made to his mother, Battey enrolled at Bethune-Cookman University in 1980. Taking 34 credits a semester, he finished his undergraduate degree in Education in 2½ years, while coaching the men's basketball team, and was accorded the distinction of Summa Cum Laude honors. After graduating from Bethune-Cookman, he became a high school teacher and baseball coach in Ocala, Florida.