Craig Sword
Craig Sword (born January 16, 1994) is an American basketball player for the Grand Rapids Drive of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
Sword playing for Mississippi State | |
No. 3 – Grand Rapids Drive | |
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Position | Shooting guard |
League | NBA G League |
Personal information | |
Born | Montgomery, Alabama | January 16, 1994
Nationality | American |
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–present | Grand Rapids Drive |
Career highlights and awards | |
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High school career
Sword 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
As 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
After 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]
On 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]
References
- "Craig Sword". Rivals.com. Rivals. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
- "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.
- "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.