Tennessee State College President Glenda Glover and Director of Athletics Dr. Mikki Allen are happy to welcome Duanté Abercrombie because the inaugural head coach of the boys’s hockey group. The historic rent makes Abercrombie the primary head coach of a hockey program at a traditionally Black faculty or college.
“I’m extremely excited to embark on constructing this program, supported by God, my household, TSU college students, alumni, and all these eagerly awaiting this second,” stated Abercrombie. “I firmly imagine that at some point, TSU shall be acknowledged not solely as a powerhouse on the ice but in addition as a program whose student-athletes go away a profound legacy on the world, enriched by the teachings realized at TSU.”
In June 2023, TSU introduced plans to turn into the primary HBCU to supply males’s hockey. The hiring of Abercrombie additional solidifies that plan.
“Duanté Abercrombie’s appointment as TSU’s head coach of hockey is a testomony to our dedication to breaking limitations,” stated TSU President Glenda Glover. “We acknowledge the profound significance of bringing hockey to an HBCU and offering our college students with unparalleled alternatives that can enrich their faculty expertise. This daring transfer builds upon the TSU legacy that we had envisioned for the establishment as a complete college providing a variety of educational and extracurricular packages, with a continued dedication to excellence.”
Abercrombie is an inaugural member of the Nationwide Hockey League Coaches’ Affiliation’s BIPOC Coaches Program, which goals to particularly assist Black, Indigenous, and coaches of shade in a number of areas together with abilities growth, management methods, communication techniques, networking, and profession development alternatives.
Duanté Abercrombie (@blkhky) Named FIRST Head Coach in @TSUedu Hockey Historical past.
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“At this time is a historic second for Tennessee State College athletics, as we welcome our first-ever hockey head coach, and marks a major step in our plans to begin this system,” stated Allen. “In depth expertise in participant growth and training is essential in constructing a good program, together with the flexibility to encourage and encourage our student-athletes to excel each on and off the ice. Coach Abercrombie possesses these abilities and extra. We’re excited to embark on this groundbreaking journey collectively!”
Along with males’s hockey, Allen’s ever-expanding athletic choices will improve between 2025-28, together with baseball, girls’s soccer, and girls’s swimming and diving.
Professionally, Abercrombie spent the 2022-23 season with the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs group as a member of the teaching employees for the Maple Leafs, Toronto Marlies (American Hockey League affiliate), and the Newfoundland Growlers (East Coast Hockey League affiliate).
Abercrombie has been concerned with a number of NHL BIPOC initiatives, together with stints with the Boston Bruins, Arizona Coyotes, and San Jose Sharks.
“I knew after our first interplay that Duanté was the best individual to guide the cost,” stated Nick Guerriero, Director of Hockey and Assistant AD for Communications and Inventive Content material. “His understanding of HBCU tradition, the collegiate hockey panorama, and the NHL will profit our group tremendously. I’m thrilled to work with Coach Abercrombie as we develop TSU Hockey right into a championship-caliber program.”
In 2020, The Athletic chosen him for its 40-Below-40 hockey checklist as a person shaping the sport’s future. In 2019, Abercrombie joined the Stevenson College (NCAA Division-III) teaching employees, the place, on the time of his hiring, he was simply one in every of 4 Black coaches in NCAA males’s hockey.
Abercrombie attended Hampton College, the place he competed in monitor and subject till an harm ended his sprinting profession. Upon leaving Hampton, Abercrombie had temporary stints with the West Auckland Admirals within the New Zealand Ice Hockey League, the Steele Metropolis Warriors, and the Brewster Bulldogs of the Federal Hockey League.
Courtesy: Tennessee State Athletics
