Arizona State has announced that the Sun Devils’ head coach will be known as the Greg Powers Endowed Men’s Hockey Head Coach after a recent gift from ASU supporters Mike and Nancy Friend.
Powers, the current Arizona State coach, has also signed a five-year contract extension.
“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 Mike Friend in a statement. “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.”
“Our program was built on philanthropy and is where it is and exists because of great people like Mike Friend,” added Powers. “Mike and his family have been and continue to be instrumental in ensuring that Sun Devil hockey is on solid ground to keep advancing now and into the future. It is truly an honor to have Mike’s support and to have the head coach position for men’s ice hockey be the first endowed head coaching position in Sun Devil athletics.”
Powers is in his 18th overall season on the Sun Devils coaching staff and his 11th as head coach of ASU’s NCAA Division I program. Under his leadership, the 2024-25 season marked a significant milestone as ASU competed its inaugural year as members of the NCHC.
The Sun Devils concluded the 2024-25 season with a 21-14-2 overall record and a 14-9-1 mark and second place finish in conference play.
A standout moment came in November 2024 when ASU achieved a historic road sweep against then-No. 1 Denver, marking the program’s first road sweep of the nation’s top-ranked team. While snapping Denver’s 21-game winning streak, the Sun Devils also became the first team to sweep the Pioneers at home since 2020. Powers reached his 300th career win in ASU’s 3-2 win in the series opener versus Denver.