TSU hockey

Tennessee State University will make a milestone announcement Wednesday afternoon at Bridgestone Arena, as the school will become the first historically Black university to introduce ice hockey at the collegiate level.

The news will be shared with the hockey world just a few hours before the start of the NHL Entry Draft at Bridgestone, which gets underway at 6 p.m. Wednesday on ESPN.

Tennessee State will begin hockey with a club program during the 2024-25 season, with the possibility of raising the level of the sport at some point in the future. The school’s football and basketball programs compete in the NCAA’s Division I Ohio Valley Conference.

TSU hinted at the hockey news coming Wednesday with a tweet from a Tennessee State Hockey account, quoting the lyrics from "The Hockey Song:" “Hello out there, were’ on the air, `It’s Hockey Night’ tonight.”

That Twitter account also promoted “The first HBCU Ice Hockey Team … Coming in 2024.”

As first reported by the Post, groundwork for the Tennessee State University hockey initiative began in 2021 when a feasibility study, funded through the NHL and the NHL Players’ Assocation’s Industry Growth Fund, began to explore the viability of hockey at the school — and what the school would require to put a team on the ice.

The Nashville Predators and College Hockey Inc., a nonprofit entity dedicated to promoting NCAA Division I men's hockey, also supported the effort.

"The idea of establishing a collegiate hockey program at TSU is a tremendous opportunity as the nation's first HBCU to take on this endeavor," TSU president Glenda Glover said at the time. "This allows us to expand the sport, increase diversity and introduce a new fan base."

It appears the NHL, NHLPA and the Predators remain involved with the launching of TSU’s hockey program, per ESPN.

The Predators have long had a relationship with TSU and helped the school raise more than $1.7 million in 2021 for merit-based and needs-based scholarships for students.

"The passion and vision of President Glover, [TSU athletic director Mikki] Allen and all of Tennessee State University's leadership in pushing to make hockey a more diverse and inclusive sport through this feasibility study is both inspiring and humbling," Predators president and CEO Sean Henry said at the time the hockey feasibility study began. "Through their passion and track record, [TSU] will be able to create another success story for other schools and communities to chase and ideally emulate.”