[3] After a season in which the Tigers had its best record in eight years at 17–11 and shared second place with North Carolina and North Carolina State in the Atlantic Coast Conference, he announced his resignation on March 20, 1975, amid a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) investigation into alleged violations involving offering money to recruit Moses Malone and furnishing cars to five Tigers players including Tree Rollins, Skip Wise and Stan Rome.

[7] Locke's only experience at the professional level was made possible by Jack Ramsay who brought him to the Buffalo Braves as an assistant coach and chief scout beginning in 1975–76.

"[8] Once the 1976–77 season started, the Braves traded Bob McAdoo and Tom McMillen to the New York Knicks and Moses Malone to the Houston Rockets.

With the Braves at 16–30, 13+1⁄2 games behind the Atlantic Division-leading Philadelphia 76ers and in the midst of a five-match losing streak, he was fired and replaced on an interim basis by general manager Bob MacKinnon on January 25, 1977.

Locke co-authored with Bob Ibach Caught in the Net, a 1982 book about his transgressions as a college basketball head coach, primarily during his time at Clemson.