After it was first announced in June 2023 that Tennessee State would field an NCAA Division I men’s hockey team for the upcoming 2025-26 season, it appears that will not happen.
According to a report in the Tennessean, “uncertainty about a home ice location or practice facilities, a lack of fundraising, and unrest about the school’s financial situation are all contributing factors for the delay of the program.”
Tennessee State would have been the first-ever hockey team at an historically black, public university. It now appears that 2026-27 will be the earliest the Tigers will take the ice.
A source with knowledge of the situation, who wished to remain anonymous because the news has not been made official, told the paper that Tennessee State’s hockey team had not met its fundraising goals for 2025-26.
Duanté Abercrombie was named the Tigers’ inaugural coach in April 2024.
