In the midst of his 18th year on the Sun Devil coaching staff, Greg Powers, head coach of ASU hockey, has signed an endowed five-year contract extension, according to Sun Devil Athletics.
A former player for ASU, Powers has brought the Sun Devils from a club program to an NCAA tournament appearance since taking over.
Since then, the Sun Devils reached the NCAA tournament in 2019 and 2020, with the latter being cancelled due to COVID. ASU, not in a conference at the time, became the first independent school to make the tournament since 1992.
The program continued to grow when ASU joined the NCHC in the 2024-25 season. In its first season there, ASU finished second in the conference, also ending the season ranked No. 16 in the country.
The ASU hockey story caught the attention of long-time ASU donors Mike and Nancy Friend.
The Friends, who have supported ASU's NIL movement for the past few years, wanted to make a bigger splash in the hockey program. With the opportunity to make Powers an endowed head coach, they accepted.
"After many discussions with the Sun Devil Club, we were inspired to make a family legacy gift to fully endow the hockey head coaching position because we believe in Coach Powers," said Friend per Sun Devil Athletics. "We are proud to be a part of this watershed event as the first athletic head coaching position endowed at ASU, and are honored to have our name associated with the remarkable and extraordinary career of Coach Powers, which is just getting started. There is no Sun Devil Hockey program without him, and we know the best is on the way."
With a series against No. 3 Denver on Nov. 21 and 22, alongside the rest of the season ahead of him, the sky is the limit on the ice at Mullet Arena.
Edited by Jack McCarthy, Henry Smardo and Ellis Preston.
Reach the reporter at aswift10@asu.edu and follow @alexswiftsports on X.
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