A varsity athlete, a sophomore, an amazing friend, a popular guy and an extremely nice person. These are all things used to describe Michael Kates. Former teammate, coaches and fellow students grades under him had nothing bad to say about him.

“Mike just always had a smile on his face” his former teammate Michael Bailey said, “He was a great guy and a great athlete.”

Kates was a Boys basketball varsity athlete as a sophomore. He was one of four sophomores on Varsity.

“He and a couple other sophomores, Jason Dennis, Ryan Tandy and Roger Haynes were all good friends” said Kyle Sanders, his former coach.

Kates was seen as one of basketball players who could seriously go places.

“He could easily have played college ball”, Sanders said.

Before 1990, high schools only held sophomores, juniors and seniors while freshmen were still in middle school.

“My year, 1990, was the year the rule changed so I got to come here as a freshman” North High grad and now Administrator Benjamin Myrick said, “I didn’t really know Mike but he was one of the nicest guys around.”

Kates passed away on March 11, 1990. He had been playing basketball with some friends at a park when he dropped suddenly. It was later discovered Kates had an enlarged heart.

“Kids all around were devastated, throughout the whole day everywhere I looked there were kids crying,” Journalism teacher Gaye Coburn said. “It was just really sad, a huge tragedy.”

The Mike Kates Memorial Scholarship currently has $400 for the next student who earns it.

A tree planted for Mike Kates still stands to this day on the North High campus. There is a plaque underneath dedicating it in loving memory.

Mike Kates was known to seemingly everybody as a kind and popular kid. He was nice to everybody and always wore a smile.