ASU launches independent review after hockey player’s collapse as season begins

TEMPE, AZ (AZFamily) — Arizona State University has retained a former Arizona Supreme Court justice to conduct an independent review of the circumstances surrounding Matthew Mayich’s collapse at a team workout.

ASU appointed former Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Scott Bales to lead the independent investigation.

ASU said Bales will be in charge of reviewing and making recommendations about the following:

• Planning and approval of outdoor athletic activities, including strength and conditioning activities, practices and competitions.
• Staffing, policies and procedures for outdoor athletic activities, including adjustments necessary to address changing conditions or adverse reactions.
• Preparation for and response to adverse events or reactions occurring during outdoor athletic activities.
• Use of outside consultants in the planning and delivery of strength and conditioning and practice activities.

ASU athletes will have a chance to share what they know, ask questions and offer suggestions — including confidentially or anonymously.

ASU Vice President of Student Services Joanne Vogel will serve as the university’s point person for Justice Bales, helping provide records, information and other resources needed for the review.

Mayich’s attorney said necessary questions will remain after the review.

“ASU has finally agreed to bring in someone from outside. It took six weeks, two U.S. senators, legislative committee chairs, and the Board of Regents to get there, and ASU has again failed to do what is necessary,” attorney Robert Carey said in a statement.

Carey said the independent review will investigate policies that may prevent this from happening again, rather than investigate what happened to Mayich.

“Justice Bales is a respected choice, and he will do an excellent job. But ASU hired him to review policies that may help prevent a tragedy like this in the future. That’s not what’s needed right now. What is necessary, and what the Mayich family has asked for and deserves, is an investigation of what went wrong on that field and who is responsible. Justice Bales has not been asked to answer those fundamental questions,” Carey said.

The specific questions the family wants answered are:

• How did this workout get onto the field?
• Why did no one stop it when players were in visible distress, with no water, no rest, direct sun, and kids who had been in Arizona barely a week?
• Which ASU, conference, and NCAA rules were broken, by whom, and why?

ASU wants the review to be done by December.

“ASU has finally agreed to bring in someone from outside. It took six weeks, two U.S. senators, legislative committee chairs, and the Board of Regents to get there, and ASU has again failed to do what is necessary.

Justice Bales is a respected choice, and he will do an excellent job. But ASU hired him to review <i><b>policies</b></i> that may help prevent a tragedy like this in the future. That’s not what’s needed right now. What is necessary, and what the Mayich family has asked for and deserves, is an investigation of what went wrong on that field and who is responsible. Justice Bales has not been asked to answer those fundamental questions.

ASU’s <i><b>own safety rules</b></i> require a root-cause investigation whenever a student is hurt. Yet that is not happening. The first thing ASU needs to do is get answers to the hard questions: How did this workout get onto the field? Why did no one stop it when players were in visible distress, with no water, no rest, direct sun, and kids who had been in Arizona barely a week? Which ASU, conference, and NCAA rules were broken, by whom, and why?

We’ve seen this done right. When Jordan McNair collapsed at a Maryland football workout in 2018, outside investigators interviewed the coaches and staff who witnessed the workout and reconstructed in detail what happened and when. The University System of Maryland Board of Regents took control of the investigation from the campus and released the findings publicly. A separate independent commission investigated the broader culture of the football program, while the head coach remained on administrative leave.

There are firms that specialize in exactly this work. Some reconstruct exertional heat stroke cases and evaluate emergency preparedness. Others investigate institutional and personnel failures.

ASU should expand Justice Bales’s mandate to cover the questions that matter and let him bring in the expertise he needs. Otherwise, it should appoint a second independent investigator to examine what ASU’s employees did and failed to do, and the conduct of whomever they allowed to run the workout that left Matthew Mayich in a hospital bed fighting for his life.

Justice Bales should report to the Board of Regents, not to the office whose own review has missed too much. The findings should be made public. And until the work is done, ASU should keep the coaches who were on that field away from the players it says, once again, it wants to hear from, who right now are playing under the watchful eye of the head coach’s best friend."

—  Rob Carey, attorney for the Mayich family

Mayich remains in the hospital on life support. His family says he likely won’t survive.

Mayich’s family has called for a criminal investigation into what happened.

Teammates raise concerns

Days after the incident, seven current teammates hired an attorney to express concerns. The players, who were at the practice, said Mayich did not receive any water and was visibly disoriented before he collapsed. They also questioned the response from coaches and the athletic trainer, saying protocols were not followed and 911 wasn’t called fast enough.

The players who have come forward are calling for the entire coaching staff to be placed on leave.

ASU hockey season starts

The Arizona State Hockey team is in the St. Louis area this weekend for the season opener against Lindenwood University.

Players wore gold ribbon-shaped stickers with Mayich’s number 27 on the back of their helmets. Coaches and other members of the staff wore similar-looking pins.

Arizona State University Athletic Director Graham Rossini attended the game, as seen by the sister station of Arizona’s Family.

Head Coach Greg Powers, who was put on administrative leave earlier this week, was not in attendance. Assistant Coach Mike Corbett led the Sun Devils behind the bench Friday as the university searches for an interim head coach. Arizona’s Family has confirmed that Corbett attended that Aug. 20 workout.

Arizona State defeated Lindenwood 5-0 Friday night for a season-opening victory.

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