Seven Arizona State hockey players disputed the university's review of a teammate's collapse and called for the school to put athletic staff on leave pending an independent investigation, according to a letter sent to the university president Monday.
In the letter titled "The Truth About the August 20 Workout," the players and their attorney allege that Matthew Mayich, who is not expected to recover after collapsing, did not receive any water during the workout, which was more grueling than reported, and that the athletic staff were not prepared to deal with heat stroke.
The athletes, who said they submitted the report anonymously because of fear of retaliation, asked ASU to place all staff responsible for the workout on administrative leave and for the school to refer the investigation to an outside agency.
"That fear is not directed at one person," the players wrote. They noted that head coach Greg Powers and his assistant coaches, who were all on the field when Mayich collapsed, remain in their positions and collectively decide playing time, scholarship levels and roster status.
ASU issued preliminary findings from its internal review last week that found the coaching staff did not vet the training plan for the workout led by a former Green Beret, Tim Ziesel, who also did not have a contract with the school.
An ASU spokesperson declined to comment.
The athletes said they were given extra exercise as "punishment" during the workout, which is against NCAA recommendations. "Those of us who finished behind a cutoff line did additional work," the players wrote.
The players stated that the session lasted more than 75 minutes, from about 7:05 a.m. to the time Mayich collapsed at about 8:23 a.m.
The session continued even after "some of us showed signs of distress, including dropping to a knee, vomiting and, in Matthew's case, visible disorientation well before the final task," the athletes wrote.
ASU's report said that the athletes had two water breaks, the first about 20 minutes into the workout. But the athletes said that there was only one brief water break 35 to 45 minutes in and that only athletes who had finished the drill first were allowed to drink. Mayich did not receive any water, according to the players.
"Matthew showed signs of distress earlier, in the bear crawl and the buddy carry, well before the medicine ball task during which he collapsed. At the talk before the final event he was struggling to stand and leaning on a teammate, in front of Ziesel, the coaches, and the trainer," the athletes wrote.
"No one at ASU properly monitored him during the workout and no one intervened."
Instead, Ziesel told them "he did not get water in combat" and said his 8-year-old son could do the workout, according to the players.
Ziesel's attorney, Buddy Rake, told ESPN that players were never denied water and that his client did not determine water breaks because the school has a hydration policy. He also said that no player vomited during the workout and that Mayich did not show any signs of distress until after Ziesel left, shortly before the final activity.
"The workout was not punishing unless you consider flutter kicks, pushups planks, and sprints punishing," he said.
No one took Mayich's core temperature after he collapsed and he was kept in direct sun for several minutes before he was moved, according to the players. They said there was no cold water immersion tub or ice chest on the field, as required by ASU policy. "Nothing effectively cooled him" in the 17 minutes it took emergency medical services to arrive, the players wrote.
The players said Powers told them afterward that Mayich's condition was "'just a little heat stroke' and 'heat exhaustion,' that he had 'seen this a million times,' and that Matthew 'just needs an IV.'"
After an ambulance took Mayich to the hospital, the players allege Powers told them they were "working closer to making the Frozen Four because of the workout and Matthew having pushed himself to the maximum."
The players also allege that they were told to leave the hospital to avoid drawing "a lot of attention" to Mayich and the workout. The letter did not specify who told them to leave, but their attorney told ESPN it was Powers.
The next day, according to the athletes, Powers told them he had "good news" and that Mayich would recover. The team then practiced.
"From what we could tell, at no point did Coach Powers seem to appreciate the severity of the situation," the players wrote.
Powers played for Arizona State in the 1990s and has been the head coach since 2010. He repeatedly declined to answer reporters' questions about Mayich's collapse during a news conference last week.
In its report last week, ASU said Mayich and the other hockey players had participated in three 15-minute outdoor workouts before the Aug. 20 session. The hockey players disputed this characterization, writing that Mayich did those outdoor drills only once or twice and did not have time to properly acclimate to the Arizona heat. Mayich had arrived in Arizona only the previous week.
"The [earlier] outdoor work was nothing like August 20," they said. "Matthew spent most of his 'off' time in his air-conditioned apartment because the heat was too oppressive for him."
The athletes also noted that the school's report did not include any on-field heat measurements, which ASU policy requires.
The university stated last week that its report was based on interviews conducted by school officials or the Arizona State Police Department. The players wrote that some athletes spoke with ASUPD without a parent or attorney present and that they were not told their statements would be shared with the university's administrative review.
The university also said in its review that the police department's findings would be sent to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office for independent review. The hockey players' attorney, Timothy J. Casey, wrote that "it is uncommon, especially this early in an investigation, for a criminal investigation to provide its results to an administrative review; that disclosure may create problems for any later prosecution."
The players also asked for the university to confirm in writing that players will not lose scholarships, roster spots or playing time for participating in any investigation or in writing Monday's letter.
In a footnote, the athletes note that they have teammates who share their concerns and questions but "who do not join this letter because they fear retaliation for publicly speaking the truth."
In a statement to ESPN, the Mayich family's attorney, Rob Carey, applauded the players for their letter. "The athletic department, the compliance office and the administration should have produced this report. Instead, the players did," he said. "Much of what the players describe is new to us, and it is far worse than we knew."
"These guys saw a friend and teammate go down. And now he's in a vegetative state and he's not going to recover. They want the truth to come out," Casey told ESPN. "They want to make sure this never happens again."