(Photo: Marina Williams/WCSN)
TEMPE – Seven Sun Devil players, through lawyer Timothy J. Casey, anonymously requested that Arizona State head coach Greg Powers and his staff be placed on administrative leave in a 26-page letter to ASU President Michael Crow after second-year defenseman Matthew Mayich collapsed following an outdoor workout at Sun Angel Stadium on Aug. 20. Mayich remains hospitalized with heat-stroke-related brain trauma 40 days later.
Since then, just two Arizona State players have spoken publicly about Mayich: alternate captain and third-year forward Ben Muthersbaugh and second-year forward Daniel Shlaine.
Many Sun Devil players wanted to speak out regarding their teammate and what happened during the workout, but would not due to fear of retaliation from Powers and his staff.
On Monday, the players made their voices heard.
“We are submitting this report anonymously because we fear retaliation from the coaching staff,” the letter reads. “That fear is not directed at one person. The head coach and his assistant coaches were all on the field on August 20, all remain in their positions, and together they decide our playing time, scholarship levels, and roster status. No one has separated us from them since that morning.”
Powers’ response to Mayich’s workout, according to the players, was that the team was closer to making a Frozen Four run because of the workout. They also claimed that Powers said shortly after that he had “seen this a million times,” and that Mayich “just needs an IV.” ”
“The next day we were told by Coach Powers that he had ‘good news:’” the letter said. “Matthew would be fine, was being slowly weaned off of sedation, and that all his organ functions were okay (however, Coach Powers made no mention of Matthew’s brain function or status), and we practiced.”
Per Adam Wodon of College Hockey News, athletic director Graham Rossini met with several players to discuss the matter on Tuesday morning with no members of the coaching staff present. Reports have revealed that the team will be practicing with no coaches, while administrators conduct 1-on-1 interviews with members of the team.
Last week, Senior Vice President for Educational Outreach, James Rund, released his initial findings from an internal review of the matter. In the report, Rund found that the team did not submit a physical training plan, but rather requested that former Green Beret Tim Ziesel, who ran the workout, speak to the team.
Mayich had been in Arizona for eight days prior to the workout, and had begun training with the team five days prior. ASU’s acclimatization policy states that “individuals should be acclimatized to the heat gradually over 7-14 days. Each exposure should gradually increase the intensity and duration of activity as well as the phasing in protective equipment until the acclimatization period has passed.”
According to the players, Mayich had participated in outdoor activities just twice before Aug. 20, including 15 minutes outside, going back and forth from an air-conditioned room.
Additionally, the Rund report claimed that there was a water break for players about 20 minutes into the workout. However, the letter obtained by KTAR News alleges otherwise. As part of their disputes, the players said there was a water break that took place about 35-45 minutes into the workout – though it was only available to the first eight players to finish a drill, a group Mayich was not part of.
Instead, the letter says that players, including Mayich, were forced into additional exercises as punishment for not finishing before a “cutoff line.”
“The session continued after some of us showed signs of distress,” the letter said. “Including dropping to a knee, vomiting and, in Matthew’s case, visible disorientation well before the final task. Video of the workout published by Arizona’s Family shows us on the ground in plank position in direct sun—which contradicts the Rund report’s use of a generic weather report of cloud cover—many unable to hold it.”
In the players’ account, it is agreed with the Rund report that there was no cold immersion tub available to put Mayich in after his condition rose to the level of heat stroke – rather, he was squirted with a spray bottle and covered with towels.
Following Mayich’s collapse, his teammates say his lips were visibly grey, and that he lay in the sun for several minutes before being moved.
“The emergency equipment the policy requires was not on the field,” the letter said. “Including a cold-water immersion tub and ice chests, and it does not appear that staff was properly trained in identifying or treating heat stroke. The athletic trainer, for example, sat Matthew upright twice, which is contrary to medical protocols, as understood by our counsel.”
The Sun Devils are scheduled to leave for St. Charles, Missouri, on Thursday, per Adam Wodon, where they will play Lindenwood at the St. Louis Blues – who drafted Mayich in the sixth round in 2023 – training facility.
