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From the court to the lab and beyond, it's game on
No limits to a mother’s love, a wrestler’s determination
Judy Robles was 16 when she found out she was pregnant with her first child, who would later be born with only one leg. As Anthony Robles grew, his mom realized that he defied limitations — "he was going to figure things out." Anthony went on to become an NCAA champion wrestler at ASU, and his life story is now the focus of a new Amazon Prime movie, “Unstoppable."
This month marks the 10th anniversary of ASU announcing that its club hockey team would be moving to the NCAA Division I level.
When Natasha Adair drove to the basket for a layup one October night in 1990, her future was right in front of her. She was a high school senior being recruited by more than 200 college coaches. But as she landed on the court and heard the pop in her knee, everything changed. Adair couldn’t have known then, but that injury headed her down a path that would eventually lead her to become the women’s basketball coach at ASU. “People often ask me if I would change what happened,” she said. “No. It made me who I am.”
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History grad ‘tumbles’ her way into a future in athletics
Sydney Tepper, a New American University Scholarship recipient, is graduating three semesters early, saying she learned to advocate for herself early on in her academic journey. That self-advocacy and self-awareness, along with her humanities degree, opened up a new pathway she didn’t realize could be a viable career for her: athletics.
'A bolt out of the blue': First-year coach leads ASU volleyball to Sweet 16
Jeff Metcalfe started covering ASU sports in 1985. So, when he says this year’s ASU women’s volleyball team — which will play at Stanford on Thursday in the NCAA's Sweet 16 — has done something he has never seen before, his words matter. “I can’t think of any ASU team in any sport that’s done something more surprising or more like a bolt out of the blue,” Metcalfe said. Even more surprising? The team is led by first-year coach JJ Van Niel.
Grad turns passion for video games, music into career
Evan Koutsogiannis’ passion for music and video games started at a young age. Now, he will receive a Bachelor of Arts in media arts and sciences with a focus in music from the School of Arts, Media and Engineering and a minor in Mandarin Chinese this fall.
New professor brings her passion for politics — and sports — to ASU
Arizona State University’s Stella Rouse has a serious job. The new professor and director of the Hispanic Research Center engages a variety of academics and artists, and writes research articles as part of her duties. But on the weekends, she can be found rooting on her favorite sports teams or enjoying the outdoors.
International student-athlete finds community at ASU Law
Domenika Turkovic, originally from Zagreb, Croatia, has made Tempe her home since arriving at Arizona State University nearly four years ago to play tennis. After earning her bachelor’s degree in psychology at ASU in 2022 while playing the sport she’s loved for 17 years, she decided to seek her Master of Sports Law and Business from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. She graduates this December.
ASU student-athlete finishes degree after decades out of school
Ted Friedli's path to graduation was put on hold in 1990 when, as a student-athlete, he suffered significant injuries and slipping grades. Thirty years later he was able to reenroll thanks to the “Sun Devils for Life” scholarship program and is graduating this fall with a bachelor’s degree in sociology.
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