Michigan State University Men's Ice Hockey

Education: Bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from Michigan State in 2005 MSU Accolades 2024 Big Ten Coach of the Year 2024 Big Ten Regular Seaso...

Austin Overmann returned to Michigan State University as an Assistant Director of Athletic Communications in November 2021 and is in his fourth year as a full-time staff member in 2025-26, working with the hockey, field hockey and wrestling programs. In 2024, Overmann earned College Sports Communicators 30 Under 30 honors. Overmann previously worked with the volleyball and softball programs at Michigan State from 2021-25. He previously served as an Assistant Director of Athletic Communications at Cornell University from August 2019 through November 2021. Overmann was a Staff Assistant for the Michigan State Athletic Communications office during the 2018-19 academic year. At Cornell, Overmann was the primary media contact for wrestling, men's soccer, softball, men's and women's tennis, fencing, women's rowing and men's lightweight and heavyweight rowing. As a staff assistant at Michigan State, Overmann was the primary contact for wrestling, field hockey, men's tennis and women's rowing. Overmann covered Michigan State wrestling during a resurgent season in which the Spartans finished 10-8 in duals and placed its first All-American at the NCAA Wrestling Championships since 2014 (Rayvon Foley, 125 pounds). He also assisted with the media relations efforts of the women's basketball program as the secondary contact. Overmann played a key role in MSU's transition to a SIDEARM Sports website and NCAA LiveStats. Prior to his first stop in East Lansing, Overmann was a graduate assista

Education: Bachelor’s degree in General Management and Psychology from Michigan State (2003) Collegiate Playing Experience: Michigan State (1999-2003) Team Captain (2002-03) All-American (2002-03) Outstanding Defensive Player (2003) Amo Bessone Award (2003) NCAA Frozen Four (2001) NCAA Qualifier (2000-02) Great Lakes Invitational Title (1999, 2000) Previous Collegiate Coaching Experience: Michigan State, Video Coach/Operations, 2015-19 Former Michigan State hockey captain Brad Fast serves the Spartan Hockey program as the Director of Player Development. Fast has a considerable background in player development in addition to his own experience as a high-level collegiate player and professional athlete. He provides the Spartan players with individually-focused skills training which has not only helped a total of 18 players not only establish new personal bests in terms of offensive numbers, but has also helped guide the program to team-wide improvements in all facets of the game to achieve team success at the league and national level. Fast helps mentor the Spartan defensive corps – as one of the youngest units in college hockey in 2023-24, MSU saw considerable growth from its four freshmen blueliners and saw senior captain Nash Nienhuis also post career-best offensive numbers. Improved offensive output has been evident throughout the Spartan lineup, as a total of 18 players posted offensive career bests over Fast’s two seasons in the Nightingale regime. Fast also assists Mike

Former Spartan hockey player Dan Sturges joined the MSU hockey staff in August 2019 and serves as the program’s Director of Hockey Operations. Sturges return...

Sports medicine fellowship-trained, board-certified primary care physician, Robert Norris, MD, provides care at MSU Health Care Sports Medicine, and MSU Athletics as an official team physician of the MSU student-athletes. Dr. Norris additionally serves as an assistant professor of orthopedics through Michigan State University’s Colleges of Human & Osteopathic Medicine. Learn more about Dr. Norris here.

Education: Bachelor’s degree in Business Management, RIT (2010) Master's degree in Management, Nazareth (2014) Collegiate Playing Experience: RIT, 2006-10 Atlantic Hockey Champion (2008, 2009, 2010) NCAA Qualifier (2008, 2009, 2010) NCAA Frozen Four (2010) Previous Coaching Experience: Assoc. Head Coach, UMass, 2016-22 National Champion, 2021 National Runner-Up, 2019 Hockey East Champion, 2021, 2022 Assistant Coach, St. Lawrence, 2014-16 Assistant Coach, Nazareth, 2011-14 Jared DeMichiel joined the Michigan State hockey staff as the first hire by head coach Adam Nightingale in the summer of 2022. Recognized as one of the top recruiters in college hockey and one of the rising stars in the profession, DeMichiel has not only had a significant impact on the meteoric on-ice rise of the program under Adam Nightingale, but also in bringing highly-rated prospects to East Lansing in each of his first three classes. His first two goaltending pupils at MSU – Dylan St. Cyr (2022-23) and Trey Augustine (2023-24) - both earned Big Ten postseason accolades. St. Cyr was an honorable mention pick and backstopped the Spartans to the first-ever Big Ten postseason victories in school history before moving on to a professional career in France. The youngest starting goaltender in the country over the last two seasons, Augustine is a two-time Richter Award semifinalist finalist, and in 2025 was not only for the Richter, but also one of six finalists the AAU Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlet

Mike Porter returned to his alma mater to join the Spartan hockey staff as the Director of Player Personnel in the June 2023. Michigan State was the first ho...

Education: Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in Management from Adrian (2011) Masters in Business Administration, American International, (2016) Collegiate Playing Experience: Adrian (2007-11); NCAA Division III Frozen Four Runner-Up (2011) Previous Coaching Experience: Assistant Coach, Clarkson (2019-22) Associate Head Coach, AIC, 2018-19 Assistant Coach, AIC, 2014-18 Mike Towns joined the Spartan hockey program as a part of Adam Nightingale’s first staff in the summer of 2022. In the two seasons this group has guided the Spartans, Towns has helped rapidly change the trajectory of MSU’s success on the ice, and has played a large role in recruiting high-end talent to come to East Lansing. In addition to his recruiting prowess that helped bring a top-five recruiting class to MSU for the 2023-24 season, Towns is the architect of the MSU power play, which finished the season fifth in the country (second in the Big Ten) with a .271 success rate in 2023-24, an improvement of more than 70 points from the 2022-23 campaign. MSU’s offense over the two seasons has nearly doubled as well: from 76 goals in 2021-22 to 107 in the staff’s first year, and 147 scores in 2023-24 as the Spartans earned both the regular-season and tournament titles in the Big Ten. Towns came to Michigan State after three years as an assistant coach at Clarkson University, where he helped guide his charges to three top-three finishes in the ECAC and an overall record of 55-25-13 in those seasons (.672)

Patrick Sarni returned to his alma mater in the summer of 2023 as the head athletic trainer for MSU hockey. Sarni joins the Spartan hockey staff after two ye...

Veteran equipment manager Tom Magee is in his 44th season with the Michigan State hockey program. Magee serves as assistant to Dave Pruder, director of MSU athletic equipment, as well as performing duties with the Spartan hockey program. He has been a part of two National Championship runs (1986, 2007) with MSU. Magee’s role as equipment manager consists of ordering, preparing, maintaining and repairing hockey equipment for the team. He worked at U.S. Olympic Festivals in North Carolina in 1987 and in San Antonio in 1993 and has twice assisted Team USA in the North America College Hockey Championship. Magee began his work with MSU athletic equipment in 1975 as a student equipment manager for numerous Spartan athletic programs before assuming his current position in October 1981. A graduate of Okemos High School, Magee has two children: his daughter, Heather, is a MSU graduate, while son, Tim, was a student manager for the hockey team and graduated from MSU in 2014. He and his wife, Paula, reside in Bath with her son, Caden and have four grandchildren.

Will Morlock joined the Michigan State athletic performance staff in the summer of 2022 and his primary duties are training the MSU hockey program. A Certified Strength & Conditioning Coach through the NSCA, Morlock has also completed Reflexive Performance Reset Level 3, ELDOA level 4, Functional Range Conditioning and Assessment courses, as well as being certified in Applied Functional Science and 3DMAPs through the Gray Institute. In addition to his work with the team in the weight room, Morlock works closely with the athletic training, nutrition, and hockey analytics departments. Using applied sport science, he works to maximize available technology, with the goal of developing each student athlete. Morlock has instituted high-level individualized and team training programs for the Spartan hockey players that have allowed them to continue to grow throughout the season and reach their potential. His programming has frequently been credited by the players for their level of success, as they acknowledge their fitness and preparedness for the grind of a Big Ten hockey season. In addition, former Spartan players are returning to East Lansing for his guidance in the summers as they prepare for their professional seasons. Morlock was most recently the Director of Performance for GVN Performance in Plymouth, Mich. and concurrently served as the head of strength and conditioning for the US National Team Development Programs under 18 and 17 national teams, with additional involvemen