Made public early Thursday morning, the announcement confirmed when the state will enter the national league following ongoing negotiations between league owner Larry Kestelman and Premier Peter Gutwein.

"It's very exciting, great for basketball and great for Tasmania so we've been working towards this, having the team in for the 2021-22 season, so it's really exciting that today's announcement confirms that," McCoy said.

Admitting that the ongoing coronavirus pandemic almost threatened to delay the side's entry into the competition, Thursday's announcement provided great comfort to not just McCoy but the basketball community and Tasmanian public.

ELSEWHERE IN SPORT

"Everyone was still working towards this goal but there certainly was concern that it would be delayed with essentially everything shut down for four or five months.

"It always was a concern that it might delay it a year but it's nice to know that we are on track still as planned."

With three Tasmanians playing in the NBL and many on the precipice of doing so, McCoy is pleased with the state's on-court options going forward.

"Maybe an Adam Gibson, who has had a great career, might finish his career in Hobart or it might be a Chris Goulding or a Lucas Walker.

"We've got a number of boys and girls in college in the US at the moment, we've got 10 athletes on college scholarship and some of those will be in line to play NBL.

"Tanner Krebs has just graduated from St Mary's, so he will go pro this year and it will be fantastic if we were able to secure Tanner for the team.

"Then there's other guys, we've got Taran Armstrong who is in the NBA global academy, he will be a long-term professional player.

"Even in locally, guys like Sejr Deans who are a little bit younger, he has been in the Australian junior teams a couple of times and he's progressing really nicely to wherever he lands in the sport."

He is hoping the side will be able to capture the attention of the broader community, with the team joining Tasmanian representation in hockey and cricket's national leagues.

McCoy said the team will certainly feature across the state but admitted the Silverdome may join the Derwent Entertainment Centre in receiving some upgrades along the way.

"While the team will play a lot of the games in Hobart, we are also very keen on Launceston and then some exposure and maybe pre-season games on the North-West Coast, so it will be a team for Tasmania.

"It [the Silverdome] will need some upgrades, it's similar to the DEC where it's been a good facility but it's very old now.

"It can still work as showed in the pre-season blitz, but it will need some money spent or possibly another solution in Launceston which also the council are working on as well.

"It will be really exciting to play some games in Launceston as well.

It wasn't just McCoy who was excited by the announcement with under-14 player Jordan Powell among the local basketballers sharing the same emotion.

"It's going to be really good because there's going to be more opportunities if we don't make college basketball," Jordan said.