Tennessee State postpones men's hockey program launch to 2026-27 season

Tennessee State University is moving the launch of its NCAA Division I men’s hockey team back by one season to 2026-27.

The decision to shift the debut of the first NCAA hockey program at a historically Black college or university was made in collaboration between Tennessee State, the NHL, the Nashville Predators and College Hockey Inc. to give the program more time to focus on fundraising efforts, recruiting, faculty planning and staff development, the Nashville-based university said in an athletics department statement on Thursday.

"Working closely with the NHL and the Predators, we agree that an additional year will provide the program with the time and resources it needs to launch at full strength and with long-term financial success in mind," TSU Interim President Dwayne Tucker said.

The athletic department statement said TSU will continue to prepare for the 2026-27 season with community engagement, donor initiatives, and program development.

The NHL and NHL Players’ Association is supporting the effort through the Industry Growth Fund, which was created as part of the Collective Bargaining Agreement in 2013 to support and accelerate the development of League and Club initiatives and projects that promote long-term fan development and increase participation in hockey at all levels.

“Deferring the inaugural season of TSU Tigers hockey to 2026-27 is the right step to build a foundation worthy of the university,” said Kevin Westgarth, NHL vice president, hockey development and strategic collaboration. “… We have faith in President Tucker’s vision and look forward to adding new names to the TSU Athletics history alongside legends like Olympic gold medalist Wilma Rudolph and NBA champion Dick Barnett. Hopefully, we’ll see an ex-Tiger raise the Stanley Cup one day, not too far in the future.”

Predators chief marketing officer Bill Wickett said the NHL team continues “to look forward to helping make the Division I hockey dream a reality at Tennessee State.”

“We applaud university leadership, led by Interim President Tucker, for its desire to ensure that when the Tigers step on the ice for the first time, they are doing it for a long time, and we pledge to walk hand-in-hand with that leadership in making it happen,” Wickett said in the athletics department statement.

TSU announced its intention to establish a men’s hockey program on June 28, 2023, at the NHL Draft in Nashville. Duante Abercrombie, a Washington, D.C., native who began playing hockey for the Fort Dupont Ice Hockey Club, an affiliate of the NHL’s Hockey Is For Everyone initiative and the oldest minority-oriented youth hockey program in North America, was hired as coach on April 18, 2024.

College Hockey Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and expanding NCAA Division I men’s and women’s hockey, said it is committed to getting TSU hockey onto the ice.

“We’re excited to work closely with TSU as it prepares to launch and to see the impact this historic initiative will have on both the university and the growth of college hockey,” College Hockey Inc. executive director Sean Hogan said.