Duante’ Abercrombie
Head Coach, Tennessee State University
Duante’ Abercrombie, 35, is a native of Washington, DC, and is a proud alumnus of Neal Henderson’s Fort Dupont Cannons Ice Hockey Program. He spent the 2022-23 NHL season with The Toronto Maple Leafs as their Coaching Development Associate.
Before coaching with the Maple Leafs, Abercrombie coached two teams in the Washington, DC area — Stevenson University, Assistant Coach (NCAA Division 3) and The Washington Little Caps, Director of Player Achievement (AAA). He also served as the Team Gold Coach at the 2022 USA Select 17 Festival and the Team Black Coach at the 2021 USA Select 16 Festival.
He is an inaugural member of the NHLCA’s BIPOC Coaches Program and The Washington Capitals Black Hockey Committee. In 2021, he was invited by The Arizona Coyotes to be a guest coach at their Rookie Development Camp and was also selected to participate in the Boston Bruins Scouting Mentorship Program. Along with these fully immersive educational opportunities, he was also recently honored to be mentioned in articles by The Athletic and ESPN. The Athletic named him to their “Hockey’s 40 Under 40: The Important People Who Are Shaping the Game’s Future” list, and ESPN listed him as a “Coach their panel would like to see in the NHL” in their “Top rising candidates for NHL jobs” article. He hopes to continue to use his platform as a hockey coach to increase diversity and inclusivity in the game of hockey.
Abercrombie is married to his wife, Melanie, and they have two children. A five-year-old son, Patrick, and a two-year-old daughter, Ava.
