My two cents: ASU's choice to add hockey works, for now

Arizona State accepted a $32 million gift from an ice hockey fan last week and will establish a Division I men’s hockey team and create a women’s sport to keep in proper ratio with Title IX rules.

That sounds good now, but what happens in 10 years when the $32 million is exhausted?

It’s ironic that the cash-poor Sun Devils got all that money from a donor, but not for what it needs: money to rebuild Sun Devil Stadium and other year-to-year expenses.

Arizona had a chance to elevate its national championship club hockey team to Division I status in the mid 1980s but didn’t have the financial resources. The same happened in the ’90s when even Jim Click was involved in an attempt to create a Division I wrestling program.

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Costs for a suitable facility, in additional to travel costs in a sport with almost no Western Division I opponents, can soon be crippling.

ASU’s growth in men’s sports during an era when there is almost no model for adding men’s college sports, isn’t a gamble now.

But in 2025, when the athletic administration has changed, it could all change.