Craig Sword (born January 16, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for the Tasmania JackJumpers of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL). He played college basketball for the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
 Sword with the Mississippi State Bulldogs | |||||||||||||||
| No. 32 – Tasmania JackJumpers | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Shooting guard | ||||||||||||||
| League | NBL | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | January 16, 1994 Montgomery, Alabama, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 196 lb (89 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school | G. W. Carver (Montgomery, Alabama) | ||||||||||||||
| College | Mississippi State (2012–2016) | ||||||||||||||
| NBA draft | 2016: undrafted | ||||||||||||||
| Playing career | 2016–present | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| 2016–2017 | Wilki Morskie Szczecin | ||||||||||||||
| 2017–2019 | Erie BayHawks | ||||||||||||||
| 2019 | Rayos de Hermosillo | ||||||||||||||
| 2019–2020 | Grand Rapids Drive | ||||||||||||||
| 2020 | Astros de Jalisco | ||||||||||||||
| 2021 | Omaha's Finest | ||||||||||||||
| 2021–2023 | Capital City Go-Go | ||||||||||||||
| 2021–2022 | Washington Wizards | ||||||||||||||
| 2023 | Spartans Distrito Capital | ||||||||||||||
| 2023–2024 | Indiana Mad Ants | ||||||||||||||
| 2024–present | Tasmania JackJumpers | ||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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| Stats at NBA.com | |||||||||||||||
Medals
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High school career
editSword played high school basketball for George Washington Carver High School in Montgomery. His senior year, Sword led his team to the 6A state championship was named Alabama Mr. Basketball. Sword was listed as 4-star recruit by Rivals.com, and choose to attend Mississippi State over offers from Alabama, Auburn, and Georgia.[1] While Sword committed to head coach Rick Stansbury, he kept his commitment to the Bulldogs when Stansbury was fired and replaced by Rick Ray.
College career
editAs a true freshman in 2012–13, Sword appeared all 32 games for the Bulldogs, starting 30 of them.[2] He was named SEC Freshman of the Week twice, and led the Bulldogs with 10.5 points per game. The Bulldogs finished a dismal 4–14 in the SEC, however.
Sword improved his scoring clip in 2013–14 to 13.7 PPG as a sophomore. Sword scored his career high, 33 points, in a 91–82 loss to LSU.[3]
Sword was sidelined with a back injury in the first half of his junior year in 2014–15. However, he returned to full form during the conference portion of the season, again leading the Bulldogs in scoring,[2] leading the Bulldogs to a 6–12 conference record, and a generally much more competitive team. Sword was named Second Team All-SEC for his efforts.[4]
Sword places ninth on the Bulldogs' career leaderboard with 144 steals.
Professional career
editWilki Morskie Szczecin (2016–2017)
editAfter going undrafted in the 2016 NBA draft, Sword signed on June 25, 2016, with Wilki Morskie Szczecin of the Polish Basketball League,[5] averaging 4.3 points, 1.9 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 11.7 minutes in 19 games.[6]
Erie BayHawks (2017–2019)
editOn October 25, 2017, Sword signed with the Erie BayHawks of the NBA G League after a tryout.[7]
On September 27, 2018, Sword re-signed with the Erie BayHawks.[8] He joined the Grand Rapids Drive in 2019.[9]
Omaha's Finest (2021)
editIn 2021, Sword signed with Omaha's Finest of The Basketball League.[10]
Grand Rapids Gold (2021)
editIn October 2021, he joined the Grand Rapids Gold.[11]
Capital City Go-Go / Washington Wizards (2021–2023)
editOn November 3, 2021, Sword was acquired by the Capital City Go-Go[12] and on December 28, he signed a 10-day contract with the Washington Wizards.[13] Sword played 3 games in the NBA, averaging 2.0 points in 6.3 minutes per game with the Wizards. On January 6, 2022, Sword was reacquired and activated by the Go-Go]].[14]
Spartans Distrito Capital (2023)
editOn April 3, 2023, Sword signed with Spartans Distrito Capital of the Venezuelan League.[15]
Indiana Mad Ants (2023–2024)
editOn September 26, 2023, Sword signed with the Indiana Pacers,[16] but was waived two days later.[17] On October 28, 2023, he joined the Indiana Mad Ants.[18]
Tasmania JackJumpers (2024–present)
editOn May 28, 2024, Sword signed with the Tasmania JackJumpers of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL) for the 2024–25 season.[19]
Career statistics
edit| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
NBA
edit| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021–22 | Washington | 3 | 0 | 6.3 | .750 | .000 | .000 | .0 | .3 | 1.3 | .0 | 2.0 |
| Career | 3 | 0 | 6.3 | .750 | .000 | .000 | .0 | .3 | 1.3 | .0 | 2.0 | |
College
edit| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012–13 | Mississippi State | 32 | 30 | 26.7 | .405 | .194 | .554 | 2.9 | 2.3 | 1.7 | .4 | 10.5 |
| 2013–14 | Mississippi State | 32 | 32 | 28.1 | .485 | .273 | .620 | 3.8 | 2.8 | 1.9 | .5 | 13.7 |
| 2014–15 | Mississippi State | 28 | 22 | 24.8 | .451 | .360 | .701 | 2.8 | 1.7 | 1.0 | .4 | 11.3 |
| 2015–16 | Mississippi State | 31 | 31 | 29.2 | .451 | .232 | .676 | 3.9 | 3.0 | 1.3 | .9 | 13.0 |
| Career | 123 | 115 | 27.3 | .449 | .263 | .635 | 3.3 | 2.5 | 1.5 | .6 | 12.1 | |
References
edit- ^ "Craig Sword". Rivals.com. Rivals. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
- ^ a b "Craig Sword bio". HailState.com. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
- ^ "Frosh lead LSU past Mississippi State 92-81". ESPN.com. February 19, 2014.
- ^ Bonner, Michael (March 10, 2015). "Craig Sword named second-team All-SEC". ClarionLedger.com. The Clarion Ledger.
- ^ "King Wilki Morskie signs rookie Craig Sword". Sportando.com. June 25, 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2018.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Craig Sword player profile". RealGM.com. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
- ^ Hartman, Billy (October 25, 2017). "Erie BayHawks Add Brandon Bowdry to Training Camp Roster, Waive Ted Kapita". NBA.com. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
- ^ Hartman, Billy (October 20, 2018). "Erie BayHawks Finalize 2018 Training Camp Roster". NBA.com. Retrieved November 3, 2018.
- ^ "Opening Night Roster". NBA.com. November 7, 2019. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
- ^ Masri, Tarik (April 23, 2021). "Outlaws pick up fifth-straight win". Enid News & Eagle. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
- ^ "Grand Rapids Gold Announce 2021-22 Training Camp Roster". NBA.com. October 28, 2021. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
- ^ "Go-Go Acquire Craig Sword". Our Sports Central. November 3, 2021. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
- ^ "Wizards' Craig Sword: Signs with Wizards". CBS Sports. December 28, 2021. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
- ^ "2021-22 NBA G League transactions". gleague.nba.com. January 6, 2022. Retrieved January 6, 2022.
- ^ "CRAIG SWORD ES EL NUEVO IMPORTADO DE SPARTANS DISTRITO CAPITAL". CanchaLatina.com (in Spanish). April 3, 2023. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
- ^ "Pacers Sign Two". NBA.com. September 26, 2023. Retrieved September 26, 2023.
- ^ "Indiana Pacers Announce Roster Moves". NBA.com. September 28, 2023. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
- ^ "Mad Ants announce 2023 Training Camp Roster". NBA.com. October 28, 2023. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
- ^ "JackJumpers round out import trio". NBL.com.au. May 28, 2024. Retrieved May 28, 2024.