Bey is the son of Drewana Bey, a high school principal who played collegiate basketball at Charlotte. He attended DeMatha Catholic High School his freshman year before transferring to Sidwell Friends School, attracted to its academics and basketball excellence. He played AAU ball with D.C. Premier. He stood 5'9 as a freshman before growing through high school. Bey averaged 14.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals per game as a junior to lead Sidwell to a state championship. He injured his ankle as a senior and missed several games. As a senior, Bey averaged 21 points and eight rebounds per game. A four-star recruit, Bey was ranked the 83rd best player in his class by 247Sports.com. Bey originally committed to North Carolina State on November 2, 2017. However, he asked to be released from his letter of intent in May 2018, and the Wolf Pack denied him a waiver to play in the Atlantic Coast Conference. After visiting Wake Forest, Boston College, and Vanderbilt, he signed with Villanova University on June 15. Villanova coach Jay Wright had recruited Bey earlier in high school but began targeting him after Omari Spellman left for the NBA and a scholarship became available.
College career
In his debut versus Morgan State, Bey finished with 16 points and four rebounds. In his first six games he averaged a little under 16 points per game. Bey had his first double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds on January 30, 2019 against DePaul. Villanova won the Big East Tournament to become the first team with three straight tournament titles, with Bey contributing 16 points and 10 rebounds in the 74–72 championship against Seton Hall. As a freshman, Bey averaged 8.2 points and 5.1 rebounds per game, starting 29 of 36 games. He was named to the Big East All-Freshman Team. Coming into his sophomore season, Bey was named to the Julius Erving Award watchlist. On December 4, Bey scored 27 points to lead Villanova to an 80–69 win over Penn. He had a career-high 33 points including eight three-pointers on January 11, 2020, to help the Wildcats to a 80–66 victory over Georgetown. Bey scored 18 points the following game in a 79–75 overtime win against DePaul. At the conclusion of the regular season, Bey was unanimously selected first-team All-Big East. Bey was named the winner of the Robert V. Geasey Trophy as the top player in the Philadelphia Big 5. He averaged 16.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game as a sophomore.
