Locklear to coach Purnell Swett baseball

PEMBROKE — Edmund Locklear will be a first time head coach at the high school level, but he’s anything but a stranger to Purnell Swett High School or the Pembroke baseball community.

Purnell Swett has named Locklear as its head baseball coach, athletic director Robert McLean told The Robesonian. Locklear is a former player and assistant coach in the Rams program and has coached baseball in the Pembroke community for more than a decade.

“It’s something I’ve kind of always wanted to do since I finished up college,” Locklear said. “I was an assistant there before, and then I took another job of running my own business full-time, then I went on a worked in the parks and recreation side. The opportunity came back open this year when the coach was released, I applied for it and fortunately I was able to get the job. I’ve always been around baseball, I’ve been coaching youth around the Pembroke area for the last 15 years. I graduated for Purnell Swett, and I have a passion for the school and the kids in that community. I’ve worked with probably 90% of the kids at the high school at a younger level, and now this is an opportunity for me to keep working with them at the high school level.”

The 37-year-old Locklear is a 2005 graduate of Purnell Swett and played collegiately at both UNC Asheville and UNC Pembroke, graduating from UNCP in 2009. He was an assistant coach at Purnell Swett for one season, in 2015, and also for two seasons at South Robeson.

He has also been the owner and operator of Next Level Sports Academy for the last 10 years, which gives baseball instruction and fields travel ball teams for youth players in the Pembroke area.

“Edmund had a real good interview and he came with a lot of good references throughout the community,” McLean said. “We just felt like it was a good fit and Purnell Swett would be a good fit for him, being a former player there.”

Locklear has also been the athletic programs supervisor for Scotland County Parks & Recreation since 2017. He will be leaving that job at the end of the month and plans to work in the local schools; he is working on updating his certifications to be eligible for a P.E. position in the near future.

Through his work with Next Level, Locklear has already developed relationships with many of the players he’ll be coaching with the Rams.

“It’s a plus, and I would say I’m one of the first ones that had my hands on them to teach them the fundamentals and the basics of the game,” Locklear said. “I’m very familiar with them; 90% of the kids (in the program) — this year I looked an eight of the nine starters had come through my program. So I’m very familiar with the kids and working with the parents, and I’m passionate for kids in our community and I’m just excited to get out there and work with them at the older level. A lot of the kids still come to our place and get lessons or stop by and work out with me at times, so I still have relationships with a lot of those kids.”

“That was a big plus,” McLean said. “He already has a connection with a lot of these — not only the players but a lot of the parents, and that played a big role in his favor. He knew these kids, and he knows the community.”

Locklear replaces Jeff Lamb, who was relieved of his duties leading the Rams program in May. Purnell Swett was 18-9 this spring with an 11-3 mark in the United-8 Conference to finish second in the league, and advanced to the second round of the 4A state playoffs; the Rams won a share of the United-8 regular-season championship in 2023.

“I think the program, as far as winning and stuff, I think the program has been going good the last couple years,” Locklear said. “I think the program, from my side, lacks a little bit of discipline. A little bit of discipline and a little bit more player development, with our younger ones, especially our incoming ninth graders and 10th graders — I’m more of a hands-on coach, teaching, fundamentals, so my plan is to develop players a little bit more and also be a very disciplined program.”