GRAND FORKS — Arizona State placed head coach Greg Powers on paid administrative leave Wednesday morning, 42 days after defenseman Matthew Mayich collapsed during an outdoor team workout.
Mayich remains hospitalized with no chance of meaningful recovery, according to his family’s attorney.
Arizona State opens the season Friday at Lindenwood.
Arizona State assistant coach Mike Corbett will handle head coaching duties while Powers is on leave. Corbett has head coaching experience at Alabama Huntsville. He also won an NCAA national championship as an assistant at Quinnipiac.
Arizona State says it will soon name an interim head coach.
“Our focus continues to be on Matthew and his family, and on our student-athletes to make sure they have the support they need during this time and as the season begins,’ Arizona State athletic director Graham Rossini said in a statement. “We have continued to collect as much information as possible. After thorough and careful deliberation, I believe this is the best move to provide stability for the hockey program.”
The National Collegiate Hockey Conference says it supports Arizona State’s decision.
“The concerns raised by student-athletes deserve to be heard and thoroughly reviewed,” the NCHC said in a statement. “We will not prejudge the findings of that review. Hockey matters deeply to our conference, but the well-being of our student-athletes matters more.”
The move comes two days after seven Arizona State players anonymously sent a letter through an attorney to the school’s president asking for the staff to be put on leave while an independent investigation into Mayich’s collapse occurs. The players contradicted much of the school’s own initial report.
The
alleges that Mayich did not receive any water during a 75-minute outdoor workout and that Arizona State’s staff was not prepared to identify and treat heat stroke. Their letter also stated that Mayich appeared to be in distress before his collapse, but the workout continued.
Powers
declined to answer any questions
about the Aug. 20 workout during last week’s National Collegiate Hockey Conference media call.
Arizona State finished in last place in the NCHC last season. The Sun Devils brought in 18 new players this offseason, including Mayich, a transfer from Clarkson.
Mayich is a St. Louis Blues draft pick.
Schlossman has covered college hockey for the Grand Forks Herald since 2005. He has been recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors as the top beat writer for the Herald’s circulation division four times and the North Dakota sportswriter of the year twice. He resides in Grand Forks. Reach him at bschlossman@gfherald.com.