​Before he became Delaware State University athletic director, Tony Tucker had spent much of his career in secondary education.Now he will return to such a role, as DSU announced Oct. 15 that Tucker is stepping down as athletic director to take a position at St. Andrew’s, the private boarding school for ninth- to 12th-graders in Middletown.Tucker worked at St. Andrew’s at the start of his 35-year career in education. He’ll return in November as senior associate director of admissions and director of strategic projects and external relations, according to DSU.Deputy AD Brian Ellerbe will oversee athletics while DSU mounts a national search for Tucker’s replacement.Tucker came to DSU in April of 2023 as senior associate vice president of athletics and in January of 2025 became athletic director.“The university is a special place, a place where thousands of alumni have mentored literally tens of thousands of young people in competitive sports and beyond, around the world,” Tucker said in the DSU statement.“In Delaware, I have felt that impact all of my life: trained, coached, mentored, and guided by countless Delaware State alumni, in the classroom and beyond. To have the opportunity to give back the way someone gave to me has been the opportunity of a lifetime.”During Tucker’s stint at DSU, he oversaw the hiring of former NFL wide receiver DeSean Jackson as football coach in 2025, when DSU had its best season in 18 years; began women’s wrestling and flag football programs; hired former St. Elizabeth High All-Stater Khadijah Rushdan as women’s basketball coach; and extended the contract of men’s basketball coach Stan Waterman.Tucker also helped drive DSU’s Athletics Transformation Campaign that aims to expand and improve on-campus facilities and build a new athletic center. It’s a $55 million project funded by state and private contributions with work slated to be begin in 2027.Under his leadership, Hornets athletes had the highest graduation rate in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, compiled a 3.28 cumulative grade-point average and had more than 300 academic honor-roll students in 2025–26, according to DSU.“Tony Tucker came to us from a long and successful career in residential K–12 private education, and he is going back to an industry he knows well, right here at home,” DSU President Tony Allen said in the university’s announcement. “I am proud of him and grateful for his contributions to the university.“He took on the quiet work of reorganizing how we serve students before we asked him to lead athletics, and then he revamped the athletics department around responsible growth, with a particular emphasis on women’s sports, academic achievement for every scholar-athlete, stronger partnerships with organizations like the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association (DIAA) and new opportunities for sponsorships, fund-raising and investment in critical and long-overdue enhancements to our athletic footpri