(Photo: Josh Eaton/WCSN)
Arizona State head coach Greg Powers has been around the Sun Devil hockey program for nearly three decades. After playing for the team from 1995-1999 and eventually joining the coaching staff in 2008, he has seen the transformation from a club team to a Division I program as a member of the NCHC, a premier conference in college hockey.
Being around the team for so many years, Powers fell in love with many aspects of hockey in the desert. Whether it be the university or the relationships he built in Tempe, Powers has made memories that last a lifetime with countless players and coaches.
One of those relationships he built was particularly meaningful. It was one that, even as they went their separate ways, the bond they shared on the ice never dwindled. If anything, it grew stronger and continued on with Powers’ journey to make ASU a destination hockey school. When tragedy struck, Powers ensured an ex-teammate and forever friend would be remembered in the program’s history.
The Mark Parris Scholarship Endowment was created to honor former Sun Devil Hockey player Mark Parris, who tragically passed away from sleep apnea on October 29, 2018. The people around him not only lost a kind soul, but they also lost a brother, a friend, and a teammate.
The endowment includes roots that reside in the desert while honoring one of ASU’s own. Parris was a Valley native and continuously made an impact on the people around him, including Powers, his former ASU club hockey teammate.
Whether it was on or off the ice, Parris’ passion for the people and things he cared about was unmatched. Parris’ honesty, charisma, and kindness left a lasting impression on the many people he interacted with.
“I have known Mark a long time,” Parris’ friend, Duane Lewis, said. “We played hockey together, so I got to see him in different environments. I always said Mark was somebody who would just tell you anything. He was never scared to open up about something. As his friends, that was probably the biggest trade for us because it rubs off on you.”
Two years after Parris’ death, Powers found a way to honor his longtime friend with the scholarship. In 2020, Powers and his family announced the creation of the endowment, which would fully fund the scholarship of one Sun Devil every year.
“Just to give back,” Powers said. “I played with Mark here, and he passed away suddenly from sleep apnea. Just a freak, weird thing. He was such a supporter of our program. He was a diehard Sun Devil. I thought it would be a great way to honor his memory.”
The scholarship honors the former Sun Devil while allowing a current Sun Devil player to play the game Parris loved without the stresses and financial burden that college can provide. In the 2025-26 season, that player was Sun Devils co-captain, junior forward Kyle Smolen.
“It’s given me an opportunity to play with all that I need at the end of the day,” Smolen said. “The whole thing carries into my game, and what I do in my routine and everything else. I couldn’t do what I do without that opportunity. To be given that here at this beautiful university is unmatched.”
Powers hand-selected Smolen based on the criteria that mattered most to Parris. On the ice, Smolen plays with a burning desire to win, physical play and leadership within a young team. The scholarship, named after a man who loved only relationships and family more than he did the game of hockey, went to a player who represented just that.
“I had the great honor of meeting Kyle back in September,” Parris’ sister Kim Couture said. “What a great guy he is. He was so kind, so gracious, getting to meet my mom and me, and how much he appreciated being selected. I know Coach Powers picks the recipient based on what Mark stood for and his passion and love for the game.”
When meeting Couture, Smolen learned what it meant to don the scholarship, as his play on the ice showed it. The co-captain played with a tremendous amount of pride, knowing that he wasn’t just honoring the name on the front or back of his jersey, but something even more meaningful.
“It’s the highest honor you can ask for,” Smolen said. “As a player, as a person, every day you wear that jersey, you’re representing something at the end of the day. I have to carry that. Every time I step on the ice, what I lay on the ice, my effort, my accountability, everything that I do is for that. So, it’s one of the highest honors I’ve ever had.”
Even as Parris left his youthful hockey career behind and stepped into the business world, he continued to build and maintain relationships. People who met him would feel like they had known him for months.
“Mark had a very unique way of making people feel like family,” Couture said. “Whether it is somebody he’s known for a long time or somebody he’s just met, he was a people person.
Relationships were very important to him, and he made a point of staying connected with people. He was one of a kind.”
It wasn’t just relationships with people that Parris held deeply. When he played for the Sun Devils club team back in the mid-90s, the thought of Sun Devil hockey becoming a Division One program seemed far-fetched.
“He played on the ASU hockey team when it was just a club team,” Couture said. “I remember going to games and watching him, and he prided himself on being a part of that club. He was just beyond proud of what Greg was able to do with the team and the advancements that he made. He was their number one supporter.”
As the years passed and life changed for Parris, the one thing that never faded was his love for the Sun Devils, especially the hockey team in Tempe. As Powers increased ASU’s relevance in the college hockey world, Parris continued to follow along and support the Sun Devils from his home in Peoria.
Lewis and other friends consistently stayed in touch with Parris, with the Sun Devils a consistent topic of discussion. As Powers continued to raise the program’s standard, he was always supported by a former teammate and longtime friend.
“He had a very good connection with them,” Lewis said. “He was always talking about ASU hockey. Did I see the game? Did I see what happened? The last thing Mark texted me, ironically, was about ASU hockey and what had happened. He was very proud to be part of the development to where it is.”
When the scholarship was created, Powers and his family kicked off the endowment with a $50,000 commitment. While the donation helped the scholarship materialize, it is not nearly enough to fund the scholarship every season.
“I know it means a lot to his family,” Powers said. “We do a golf tournament every year to support the endowment and just give back to the program that has done everything for me. I still owe way more than just a scholarship endowment, but it’s a good way to give back in his name so he’s always remembered.”
That golf tournament began before the scholarship was even created as an event hosted by Couture and Lewis to bring Parris’ friends together. People who knew him, along with corporate sponsors from the business community, all met at the Coyote Lakes Golf Club, the same course Parris and his friends played together more frequently than any other.
When the golf tournament began in 2019, the funds raised from participation went to Phoenix Children’s Hospital to utilize Parris’ name for a cause bigger than any person. However, when Powers announced the scholarship named after Parris, Couture and Lewis both agreed that all the proceeds should go towards that. Everything came together to honor him. Parris’ family, friends, former teammate, favorite golf course, and the team he loved most all connected by the former Sun Devil hockey player.
According to Couture and Lewis, the golf tournament has raised about $20,000 each year, all of which goes toward keeping the scholarship endowed. Other than the golf tournament, donations can be made to the Sun Devil Club, which helps fund scholarships like the Parris endowment.
“I will be forever grateful to Coach Powers and his wife Jessica for the gift that they gave Mark in creating that scholarship in his name,” Couture said. “What an honor and what a way to honor him. What a blessing it is for me and Duane to continue to do the annual golf tournament we do. All of our proceeds over the last five years have gone to the scholarship.”
While the scholarship possesses a special meaning, not only to Powers but to the entirety of the Sun Devil nation, it is not the only scholarship the program has endowed. Many other players have scholarships funded by donors, helping the program’s financial state.
“We have 11 scholarship endowments,” Powers said. “Obviously, you want to get that thing fully endowed, and that is the goal. I think in a fully endowed scholarship, there has to be $750 thousand. We’re adding to it every year.”
When donors invest in the program, Powers brings them in to meet the players, just as Couture met Smolen in September. These endowments, along with the pride the players possess in receiving them, could potentially lead the way toward a bright future that Parris and other former players hoped to see for Sun Devil hockey.
“It means everything,” Powers said. “We try to educate everybody on whether it’s a family or a season ticket holder who has decided to endow scholars, and what their passion is behind this program. I know our guys are appreciative of it. They’re all good kids, and don’t take it for granted.”
Given the program’s history, endowments like the Parris Scholarship are crucial in the Sun Devils ultimate goal of becoming a national contender.
When the program transitioned from club hockey in the ACHA to a Division 1 program in 2015, it was fresh off back-to-back ACHA national championships. Within four seasons, the Sun Devils’ transition to the top division of college hockey was heading in the right direction, as they qualified for their first two NCAA Tournaments in the program’s history.
However, the program’s early success allowed ASU to look farther down the line to continue taking steps toward national recognition as a destination school.
Three years later, on July 5, 2023, ASU announced it would move from an independent program to the NCHC in the 2024 season. Since its foundation in 2013, the NCHC has won eight of the last 10 national championships, becoming one of college hockey’s premier conferences.
While the Sun Devils finished second in the NCHC following their inaugural season, the ever-changing landscape of college athletics and NIL has been brought to the forefront of the conversation. Unlike its conference foes, ASU is the only team in the NCHC with Power Four football, basketball and baseball programs. The school’s athletic department has focused resources on the other three sports, leaving Powers and program donors to fully fund its hockey program.
On the flip side, the Sun Devils’ conference competition doesn’t face the same problems. North Dakota, Western Michigan and Miami (OH) are the only other programs with football teams, none of which are in Power Four conferences.
With no football programs, schools like Denver, Minnesota Duluth, St. Cloud State, and Colorado College are able to funnel more funding to their hockey programs. With the extra resources, Denver has won three of the last five national championships, while Duluth won back-to-back championships in 2018 and 19.
In order to compete with these schools, the Sun Devils are forced to look elsewhere to fund their program, such as the endowments from donors. Those endowments can range from the Parris scholarship to as far as the head coaching position.
In October 2025, ASU announced that it was extending Powers through 2030 on a three-year deal. The contract doesn’t cost the school a single cent, as Mike and Nancy Friend made the decision to endow the head coaching position through a seven-figure donation, essentially saving ASU five years of contract money.
Even as the money is saved on the head coaching position, ASU will look for more endowments from donors. As proven by the scholarship named after Parris, these endowments can help cement a Sun Devil legacy while leaving the program with a promising future to compete with top programs in college hockey.
“We are doing everything we can to endow scholarships,” Powers said. “Endow the head coaching position, which we did this year. It just ensures the stability of the program moving forward long after I’m gone. It’s everything we can do to keep the program on a really solid footing forever.”
