Add The New York Post on Google Tellings signs allegedly emerged before Arizona State hockey player Matthew Mayich’s scary collapse last month that indicated he needed help.
New details have emerged surrounding Mayich’s hospitalization following an Aug. 20 workout at Sun Angel Stadium, as The Arizona Republic’s Robert Anglen told KTAR News 92.3 FM that Mayich was “disoriented” and little was done to help him in crisis.
“Based on descriptions provided by the Mayich family lawyer, Mayich started suffering throughout the workout. He was showing signs of not being able to complete tasks. He was disoriented. … Then when he collapsed, they did not bring him to a bath. They did not put him in ice,” Anglen described.
“They instead stood around him, left him on the field laying there. … As I understand it, players tried to shade him and others worked on him.”
Mayich, 21, has been hospitalized and in a coma since the frightening incident last month.
The family’s lawyer, Robert Carey, recently said he has “zero chance of recovery.”
Former Green Beret Tim Ziesel, who is reportedly not under contract with ASU, conducted the practice on a day that reached a high of 106 degrees by the afternoon.
Another attorney representing the Mayich family, Leonard Aragon, alleged the trainer pushed the athletes beyond a military-style workout and punished those who stopped or drank water, per KTAR News.
“Ziesel and his attorney dispute whether [the exercises] were grueling or military style, … except in tone and cadence they say,” Anglen added. “He also says he left the practice early before the workouts were over and before Mr. Mayich collapsed.”
Only a handshake agreement was done between Ziesel and head coach Greg Powers and his staff, as the trainer’s attorney Buddy Rake explained, which was in violation of the university’s athletic department policies, The Arizona Republic reported.
“The policy says if the university is going to bring in somebody … from outside to work with athletes, they have to go through a vetting process and they have to sign what’s known as a consultant police form,” Anglen reported. “The trainer and his lawyer both say that never happened.”
ASU’s guidelines also indicated that student-athletes are supposed to be gradually acclimatized over seven to 14 days upon returning to activities, per The Arizona Republic.
The university previously stated that heat-illness guidelines are in place based on the National Athletic Trainers’ Association.
Yet, Mayich flew from Ottawa, Canada less than a week before what was his first workout, per Aragon.
ASU Athletic Director Graham Rossini told Arizona Sports’ “Burns & Gambo” on Aug. 28 that the university is reviewing — not investigating — the incident, which includes looking into whether its guidelines for outside consultants were followed, with Senior Vice President James Rund conducting the review.
“This is not an investigation where somebody’s suggesting something went wrong,” Rossini said. “We’re reviewing the facts and understanding the scenario.”
The Mayich family wants ASU to open an independent investigation to get answers for the terrifying incident.
“They’re calling for either Phoenix PD, the attorney general or … Department of Public Safety to pick up that investigation,” Anglen said. “They have asked ASU to respond to the request of as of now they have not.”
Aragon and Carey have been conducting interviews around the incident to gather information for the case. Carey previously stated he interviewed several players who described the workout as “grueling” and “unbearably hard.”
“My investigation shows the storyline is completely false,” Carey said. “This case has shattered [Mayich’s] life. He deserves, and his family deserves, a proper investigation.”
Rake previously spoke for Ziesel to The Arizona Republic on Aug. 27, saying it was not a “Green Beret or SEAL workout” before adding that “the head coach, assistant coaches and medical were always present.”
Mayich, a sophomore defenseman, started his college career at Clarkson before transferring to Arizona State this offseason. The Blues selected him in the sixth round of the 2023 NHL Draft.
Last season with Clarkson, he scored 15 points on seven goals and eight assists.
