Stiles: 13 people who will define Robeson sports in 2025 | Robesonian

As the calendar turns to 2025, everyone will wonder what is to come in the new year.

On the local sports scene, there’s plenty of questions to be answered over the next 12 months. This includes who will continue to be successful, and what teams that have struggled in years past will have a better year this time around.

While there’s plenty of unknowns to figure out over the 365 days that will make up 2025, it’s also fun to guess what could be, and to think about who some of the key figures in local sports will be.

Below is a list of 13 people — one player and one coach each from UNC Pembroke and the county’s five high schools, plus one of the architects of Robeson Community College’s athletic program as it prepares to take the field — who will help to define what local sports will look like in 2025. The colleges are listed first, followed by the high schools in alphabetical order.

UNC Pembroke

Bradlee Haskell — The most vocal of a group of seniors that provide leadership for the UNCP men’s basketball team, Haskell is averaging 17.9 points per game. As the Braves try to win their fourth straight Conference Carolinas regular-season championship and also try to repeat as conference tournament champions, Haskell’s play will be key.

Kendra Samuels-Eaton — The UNCP women’s basketball team is seeking its third straight Conference Carolinas Tournament title, but does so with a different voice on the sidelines. The Lady Braves enter 2025 at 10-3 in Samuels-Eaton’s first season as head coach after John Haskins’ retirement; how will the team look under her leadership come tournament time in March?

Robeson Community College

Jake “Jiggy” Jones — An RCC player hasn’t been included on this list since the school’s inaugural baseball and softball teams won’t play outside competition until the spring of 2026. But baseball coach and athletic director Jake “Jiggy” Jones is hard at work securing commitments for the first team, and will continue with that team-building until those players come to campus in August to begin classes. It’s off to a good start, with commitments already in double digits.

Fairmont

Taniya Simms — Fairmont’s senior forward will end 2025 at Winston-Salem State, where she’s signed to play college basketball. But the two-time Robeson County Shootout MVP will start the year by finishing her Golden Tornadoes career, with the team trying to win the Southeastern Athletic Conference title again after sharing the regular-season title the last two seasons and winning the tournament title last season. She and the Golden Tornadoes will also be looking for a deeper state playoff run after reaching the third round in 2023 and second round in 2024.

Football coach TBD — After Fairmont parted ways with football coach Jeremy Carthen in November, the Golden Tornadoes will have a new coach leading the program in 2025 — which will be their fifth in the last seven seasons. Fairmont hasn’t won more than two games in a season since 2019. With much of the team set to return, will the new coach have more success? In the longer term, will he provide some much-needed stability for the program?

Lumberton

Jaiden Shephard — Fresh off a Robeson County Shootout title, the Lumberton boys basketball team carries momentum into 2025. Its only senior, wing Jaiden Shephard, is the team’s leading scorer and rebounder (19.0 points, 16.0 rebounds per game) and was tournament MVP in the Pirates’ Shootout triumph; how far will he carry the Pirates in United-8 Conference play and beyond?

Taurius Baker — Lumberton football’s 4-6 campaign in 2024 earned the program’s most wins in a season since 2016. That improvement came with a young Pirates team; with many of the key contributors expected to return in 2025, can Baker lead the Pirates to their first winning season since 2011?

Purnell Swett

Josie McLean — Purnell Swett girls soccer senior forward Josie McLean can join rarefied air this spring, as she has a chance to become a four-time Robeson County Player of the Year. More importantly, the Rams have a chance to build on their shared United-8 Conference title from last season, with nearly everyone back from their 20-win team in 2024. Winning the conference outright and advancing in the state playoffs will be goals for the Rams this year.

Edmund Locklear — New coaches often inherit a program that’s struggling, but the opposite is the case for new Purnell Swett baseball coach Edmund Locklear. Jeff Lamb was ousted from the role after an 18-9 season and a second-place United-8 finish last year, leaving Locklear to try and maintain the program’s recent success, which includes a shared United-8 regular-season title in 2023 and a third-round state playoff run in 2021.

Red Springs

T.J. Ellerbe — Ellerbe’s inclusion on this list is two-fold: after a 30-steal season on the baseball diamond, he’ll be a big part of that team’s fortunes this spring. The junior is also coming off a football season with 1,035 receiving yards and was also a key defensive back for the Red Devils; the numbers could potentially be even bigger in his senior football season next fall.

Tim Ray — The Red Springs football coach enters the 2025 season, his fourth at the school, with a chance to post his best season with the Red Devils. The team won one less game in 2024 than the year before, when Red Springs reached the state playoffs, but with Ellerbe and other key players returning the team could potentially take a big step forward.

St. Pauls

Yoshua McBryde — After a 1,602-yard, 14-touchdown junior season, Yoshua McBryde will be the biggest offensive threat returning for St. Pauls as the Bulldogs try to defend their 2024 Southeastern Athletic Conference championship. With quarterback Theophilus Setzer graduating, McBryde’s role will be even larger.

Ted Gaskins — 2024 saw the revival of a coaching career that began in 1979 as Gaskins returned to the sidelines at St. Pauls. It’s been a struggle thus far, with just one win as the start of conference play looms on the horizon, but Gaskins says his system has an adjustment period and is confident his team will improve. He also feels they’ll be better next season, worth mentioning in a column about the entire year of 2025 during which the next basketball season will begin.