Stories / Student Safety
Hockey player in a coma after outdoor workout; family demands outside probe
Sophomore defenseman Matthew Mayich, 21, collapsed during an Aug. 20 team workout led by a former Green Beret and has been hospitalized ever since; family attorneys say his condition is irreversible. ASU's own preliminary review found coaches never submitted the training plan to the university's strength and conditioning staff.
Head coach Greg Powers and an assistant were placed on paid leave. Seven players anonymously asked for the whole staff to be replaced, and a family attorney says players describe it as a punishment workout. ASU Police will send their findings to the Maricopa County Attorney. Reporting on the ASU Police criminal investigation says the 50-to-60-minute session of sprints, bear crawls and teammate carries ran in 87–89°F heat that met ASU's own "high" heat-stress threshold, and that Mayich was not immediately put in a cold-water immersion tub, the first-line treatment under ASU policy. Police have begun interviewing players; no charges have been filed.
ASU's side / contextASU says its investigation continues, it will convene an expert panel on outdoor athletics, and coaches say they are grieving too.
Next: the players' letter and the coach's exit →
