(Photo: Allyson Cummings/WCSN)
The reigning ACHA national champion Arizona State hockey team announced on Tuesday that the team will transition to NCAA Division I hockey.
“You should know that this decision is a huge decision for ASU and Sun Devil athletics. We are adding sports at a time when many other institutions are considering cutting varsity sports. We’re adding to ours because we believe that it’s the right thing to do,” vice president of university athletics Ray Anderson said. “We have a lot of heavy lifting to do, but what this does is it represents what ASU is all about because we’re entrepreneurial, we’re proactive, we’re innovative.”
The ASU Hockey team currently plays in the Western Collegiate Hockey League of the ACHA. In 2015, it will start to play NCAA Division I.
The team was able to make the jump to the NCAA in large part because of a $32 million donation from Don Mullett — the father of former Sun Devil Hockey player Chris Mullett.
“This donation is a huge commitment for me, my co-donor, and our family. Since the year 2000, I have personally donated a significant amount of my time and resources to the ASU hockey program, and the ultimate question is why,” Don said. “I have witnessed four coaches since I’ve been involved with this program, (head coach) Greg [Powers] exemplifies something beyond what I would have ever expected with a club program.”
Powers, who has been the head coach since 2010, will remain at the helm for the transition to NCAA hockey.
“It is surreal, I’m not going to lie,” Powers said. “It’s a moment we always hoped could happen and didn’t really know how to make happen. Through hard work, and belief in the culture, and everything that we have here, our supporters wanted to raise this to the next level. They believe in us to succeed at that level so we’re very fortunate.”
Powers also emphasized the impact that his players had on this decision.
“Our players are the main reason we are here today,” Powers said. “All of them turned down some semblance of NCAA opportunity, and a good portion of them turned down scholarship money to come be a part of Sun Devil hockey and believe in our vision.”
The Sun Devil hockey program will have 18 scholarships at its disposal starting next year. The team will play a hybrid schedule in 2015 with a mixture of DI and ACHA competition. Then in 2016, it will play a full DI schedule independent of conference alignment. In 2017 the team plans to transition into a NCAA DI conference, but that has yet to be determined.
“Within a few years of having 18 scholarships available, ASU will eventually compete at the elite level of NCAA DI Hockey and you will see the Sun Devils in the Frozen Four,” Powers said.
The Sun Devil hockey team will be the westernmost program of the continental United States, and it could be the start of a transition of more west coast schools adding DI teams.
“It’s not without risk, but part of our DNA is to be entrepreneurial, to be creative, to be a little bolder than some others might be willing to do,” Anderson said. “That’s quite frankly why the Pac‑12 is excited that Arizona State is stepping up to start varsity hockey, because they haven’t been able to get some of the other universities to quite take the move.”
American International University (San Diego, Calif.) and Northern Arizona University have both had DI programs in the past, but neither have lasted. Powers believes that ASU will thrive.
“We’re Arizona State, that’s the difference,” Powers said. “We are a large, successful, committed university. Not to say that American International and certainly NAU are not, but we are in a different market. It’s a different time now, than it was when those two programs launched. Hockey in general on the west coast — to say it’s growing is a gross understatement.”
Forward Faiz Khan has been on the team since 2012, and said he’s proud of where the team is going.
“It’s super exciting for me to be part of the building blocks that made this happen. I’m pretty happy for the young guys that are going to be able to experience all this,” Khan said. “It’s a great day for Arizona State hockey and college hockey as a whole.”
The team has not officially announced where exactly it will play its games. However, Powers is confident that it won’t be hard to draw people to the games.
“Now we are truly the most unique college hockey experience in the country, and we’re going to exploit that and use it to our advantage,” Powers said.
