Tennessee State Delays Men’s Hockey Debut to 2026–27 Season

The NCAA Division I men’s hockey team’s debut at Tennessee State University will now take place in 2026–2027, one season later than originally planned.

According to a statement released by the university’s athletics department on Thursday, Tennessee State, the NHL, the Nashville Predators, and College Hockey Inc. decided to move the first NCAA hockey program’s debut to a historically Black college or university in order to give the program more time to concentrate on recruiting, fundraising, faculty planning, and staff development.

“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.

According to a statement from the athletic department, TSU will keep up its program development, donor initiatives, and community involvement efforts in order to get ready for the 2026–2027 season.

In order to support and expedite the development of League and Club initiatives and projects that foster long-term fan development and boost participation in hockey at all levels, the NHL and NHL Players’ Association established the Industry Growth Fund as part of the Collective Bargaining Agreement in 2013.

“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.”

The NHL team is still “looking forward to helping make the Division I hockey dream a reality at Tennessee State,” according to Bill Wickett, chief marketing officer for the Predators.

In a statement released by the athletics department, Wickett said, “We commend university leadership, led by Interim President Tucker, for their desire to make sure that when the Tigers take 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.”

TSU said at the NHL Draft in Nashville on June 28, 2023, that it would start a men’s hockey program. On April 18, 2024, Duante Abercrombie, a native of Washington, D.C., was appointed as coach after he started playing hockey for the Fort Dupont Ice Hockey Club, the oldest minority-focused youth hockey program in North America and an affiliate of the NHL’s Hockey Is For Everyone campaign.

The nonprofit group College Hockey Inc., which works to promote and grow NCAA Division I men’s and women’s hockey, stated that it is dedicated to seeing TSU hockey play.

“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.