Forgotten amidst the many Georgetown players of his era who went on to the NBA, Michael Tate's promising career was derailed by an untreated injury in 1989.

"At age 13, Michael Tate was 6 feet 3 and dunking a basketball with ease," wrote the Washington Post. "His vertical leap was so high he was allowed to play with the 18-and-under recreation teams during the summers." In two seasons on the varsity at Oxon Hill HS, Tate rewrote the school record book. Averaging 30 points and 16 rebounds a game, Tate won a share of the Prince George's district title with a remarkable 42 point, 23 rebound and nine assist game versus High Point.

"I don't want people to see me as just a scorer," he said. "I want them to say Mike Tate is a player who can do everything."

A Parade All-American, Tate played alongside Shaquille O'Neal in the McDonald's All-Star Game and was among the nation's top unsigned recruits when he chose to play for Bob Wade at Maryland in 1989 over offers from Georgetown and Duke. On May 12, Wade was forced to resign at Maryland in the midst of an NCAA investigation that would eventually lead to three years probation at that school. Tate received a release from his letter of intent and signed with Georgetown at month's end.

A more serious turn of events preceded Tate's arrival at Georgetown. During warmups for the 1989 Capital Classic, the high-flying Tate suffered a knee injury that, according to reports, he perceived as a pulled muscle. The injury was not treated and he developed arthritis. By the time he arrived at Georgetown, Tate was considerably slower and was not the athlete he was at Oxon Hill. Choosing to play through the pain rather than undergo season ending surgery, Tate was a question mark to fans all season, in that the severity of his injury was not discussed by Georgetown.

Another question mark: his name. He had taken on the surname of Tate years earlier when his mother remarried, but asked Georgetown to change it back to Venson. For reasons not disclosed, Georgetown continued to refer to him as Michael Tate but his jersey name read "Venson", leading to more than one TV announcer asking who "Venson" was.

With continuing knee problems, Tate never scored more than nine points in a game all season, and by February of his freshman year was averaging between two and four minutes a game - a result of a loss of confidence by Tate and a growing loss of confidence in Tate by coach John Thompson. Tate saw six minutes of action in his final six games of the season. Admitting that he wasn't getting along with Thompson, Tate opted to transfer, and completed his career at James Madison, as Michael Venson, averaging 5.8 points a game and receiving his degree there in 1994.

Nearly 30 years following his arrival to the Hilltop, Michael Venson returned to the Georgetown conversation--not as a player, but as a parent. His daughter, Mikayla, transferred to Georgetown in 2017 following two seasons at Virginia. As a senior, she averaged 13.2 points per game and played on the team as a graduate student, becoming a two time Big East academic all-star.