COLUMBUS, Ohio — A lot goes into transferring to an Ivy League school — applications, essays, Zoom calls and everything in between.
Between video chats and phone calls with the Cornell men’s hockey coaching staff, incoming sophomore defenseman Luke Ashton undoubtedly had many questions about Cornell, and everything it would take to get there.
Still, though, he had a nagging thought that he needed to ask the coaches.
Do the Cornell fans really throw fish at Harvard?
“It was one of the things I had to question the coaches about because I saw videos online,” Ashton said with a laugh.
With his transfer announced on April 24, Ashton is one of two sophomore transfers set to debut in Ithaca this fall, and part of a sizable 14-player incoming class that stands as one of the largest in recent memory. After spending his freshman year at Minnesota State University, Ashton knew “right away” that Cornell was the place he wanted to be.
“I'm super grateful for my time at Minnesota State. I had a great time, but I felt like I needed a change in Cornell,” Ashton said. “When I was looking at other schools, Cornell had a lot of things that I felt like I missed that were offered, and I was super excited to head in their direction.”
The current landscape of college hockey is a murky one. On top of the transfer portal, a Nov. 7, 2024 rule change now allows Canadian Hockey League players to play in the NCAA — a feat that was previously banned due to the NCAA Division I Council considering the CHL a “semi-professional” league.
That’s all while the House v. NCAA settlement was approved this summer, allowing schools to pay their athletes and essentially ending amateurism in college sports. Along with the rest of the Ivy League, Cornell will not opt into the settlement, continuing the longstanding tradition of the Ivy League’s attitude towards athletics — still, no Ivy League athlete can receive an athletic scholarship.
Big 10 hockey schools have begun offering near millions of dollars to prospective recruits. Penn State reportedly offered an NIL package of over $250,000 to Porter Martone, a CHL player who went sixth overall in the 2025 NHL Draft on June 27. Michigan State and Penn State engaged in a bidding war for Gavin McKenna, another CHL recruit that is the prospective No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.
It was reported by multiple sources on Monday that McKenna will also attend Penn State. The Nittany Lions offered nearly $700,000 to land the blue-chip recruit, who — much like many other CHL-to-NCAA bound players — will likely only play one year of college hockey before making the jump to the NHL.
Despite all of that, Ashton chose Cornell.
And when asked about what he’s most excited about, Ashton — grinning widely — said he couldn’t put a finger on one thing.
“I've found an exciting part for me about college hockey is the people,” Ashton said. “You get to go to school with your friends and play in front of the crowd. From everything that I hear, Cornell is quite an exciting [and] special place to be. So being able to cherish those memories and make those memories with not only my teammates but students around campus, I'm really looking forward to.”
Ashton was lured by the culture that Cornell hockey cultivates, the prestige of an Ivy League school and the program’s longstanding commitment to success both on the ice and off.
“The history is something to just be in awe of,” Ashton said. “[In] both school and hockey, the team has a winning reputation. I know that Cornell is quite a prestigious school with a lot of rich history, which I love.”
Ashton didn’t go into the process blindly — he was originally recruited by head coach Casey Jones ’90 when Jones was the head coach at Clarkson. When Ashton entered the transfer portal on April 16 — nearly a month after the portal opened — Jones was quick to reach out to Ashton a second time.
The easy part, for Ashton, was deciding to transfer to Cornell.
The hard part? Doing the actual transferring.
“I mean, the timing of it was tough, because I won the portal late, and then applications were due a week later,” Ashton said.
After a three-day road trip from Minnesota State in Mankato, Minnesota back home to North Vancouver, British Columbia, Ashton had to hastily write his essay and cross off boxes on forms. It was “definitely worth it,” he says.
The numbers Ashton put up at Minnesota State were solid — five goals and eight assists for 13 points as a depth defenseman — but not necessarily what he’s known for. Standing at 6’6”, 239 lbs, Ashton’s uniquely massive stature separates him from the rest of the pack. Others have taken notice, too — Ashton was drafted in sixth round of the 2024 NHL Draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets.
After Cornell’s defensive corps was rattled by both graduation and the transfer portal, Jones confided in Ashton — as well as incoming sophomore defenseman Michael Fisher, a transfer from Northeastern — to help fill in the gaps.
“I'd like to definitely consider myself as a two-way defenseman,” Ashton said. “Obviously, I'm quite tall and big with my stature, but good with my stick. I play physical [and] hard in the defensive zone, but I definitely like to push the pace up the ice and bring an offensive element. I love to use my shot, for sure.”
After spending a few days in Columbus, Ohio for the Blue Jackets’ development camp, Ashton will return home to North Vancouver to continue training. He’s even been able to acclimate himself to the team early on, skating with fellow British Columbia natives junior defenseman Hoyt Stanley, senior defenseman Jack O’Brien and senior forward Sean Donaldson.
Chatting with them about his future school, Ashton’s excitement is palpable.
“You can just sense a great vibe from not only the team, but the school and the people who go to Cornell. Everyone has good things to say about it,” Ashton said. “So it was kind of a no-brainer.”
Jane McNally is a senior editor on the 143rd editorial board and was the sports editor on the 142nd editorial board. She is a member of the Class of 2026 in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. You can follow her on X @JaneMcNally_ and reach her at jmcnally@cornellsun.com.
