Arizona State owes Matthew Mayich's family more than 'not today'

Arizona State had a chance this week to act like a program that knows what's at stake. It chose a script instead. One of its players is on life support after a team workout, and the school's answers so far don't come close to what his family is owed.

Matthew Mayich, a 21-year-old defenseman who transferred in from Clarkson, collapsed on Aug. 20 during an outdoor workout at Sun Angel Stadium. It started around 7 a.m. with temperatures in the high 80s, and a former Green Beret ran it.

Mayich was diagnosed with exertional heat stroke. His family's attorney, Robert Carey, has said there is no chance of a significant recovery.

What the review found

ASU released its review on Sept. 22. The plan for that workout was never submitted to the school for review before it happened. The coaches were there. Nobody outside the program had signed off on what they were watching.

Athletic director Graham Rossini's framing was worse than the finding. "This is not an investigation where somebody's suggesting something went wrong," he said, per Arizona Sports.

A player collapsed from heat stroke at a team workout nobody vetted. Something went wrong. Saying so isn't an accusation. It's the starting point for fixing it.

What Powers wouldn't say

Head coach Greg Powers made his first public appearance on Sept. 24, at a virtual press conference to open the season. The Athletic's Katie Strang asked him twice about the workout and about accountability.

"Again, just not able to answer questions about it in any way," Powers said. Asked how he'd modeled accountability for his team over the past month, he said, "In a lot of ways." Asked to expand, he said, "No, not today."

I understand why a coach gets told not to talk during a review. I don't understand why that coach is still the face of opening week while it's happening. Powers remains in charge of the program, and the school's review didn't assign responsibility to anyone.

What should happen

The Mayich family wants an independent investigation and heat-illness rules for athletes at every state university. Both requests are reasonable, and ASU should say yes to both today.

If it were my call, Powers would step back until an outside review is finished and published in full. That isn't a verdict on him. It's what a school does when it wants its players and their parents to believe the next answer.

College hockey sells itself on the family part. The bus rides, the barns, the kids who'd run through a wall for the logo on the front. That promise only works if the adults in charge take care of the kids running. Arizona State owes Matthew Mayich's family a real accounting, and "not today" can't stay the answer.