Craig Sword (born January 16, 1994) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for the

Kaohsiung Aquas The Kaohsiung Aquas ( zh, 高雄全家海神) are a Taiwanese professional basketball team based in Kaohsiung City Kaohsiung, officially Kaohsiung City, is a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality located in southern Taiwan. ...

of the

Taiwan Professional Basketball League The Taiwan Professional Basketball League (TPBL, zh, 台灣職業籃球大聯盟) is a professional basketball List of basketball leagues, league in Taiwan composed of 7 teams. It is the fourth Taiwanese professional basketball league after the ...

(TPBL). He played college basketball for the

Mississippi State Bulldogs Mississippi State Bulldogs is the name given to the college athletics, athletic teams of Mississippi State University, in Mississippi State, Mississippi. The university is a founding member of the Southeastern Conference and competes in NCAA D ...

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 Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, Auburn, and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. While Sword committed to head coach

Rick Stansbury Richard Lee Stansbury (born December 23, 1959), is an American college basketball coach who most recently was an assistant coach at the Memphis Tigers men's basketball, University of Memphis. He was the head coach at Western Kentucky Hilltoppers ...

, 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 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, Sword appeared all 32 games for the Bulldogs, starting 30 of them. 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. 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, 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. Sword places ninth on the Bulldogs' career leaderboard with 144 steals.

Professional career

Wilki Morskie Szczecin (2016–2017)

After going undrafted in the

2016 NBA draft The 2016 NBA draft was held on June 23, 2016, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It was televised nationally in the U.S. by ESPN, and was live streamed for the first time in NBA draft history by The Vertical. National Basketball Association (NBA) ...

, Sword signed on June 25, 2016, with

Wilki Morskie Szczecin The King Wilki Morskie Szczecin is a Polish professional basketball team based in Szczecin, West Pomeranian. King Szczecin competes in the Polska Liga Koszykówki (PLK), the top tier league in Poland. The club was founded in 2004 and made its d ...

of the

Polish Basketball League Polska Liga Koszykówki (PLK) (English language, English: Polish Basketball League), officially known as the Orlen Basket Liga due to its sponsorship by Orlen, is a professional men's club basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Poland. I ...

, averaging 4.3 points, 1.9 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 11.7 minutes in 19 games.

Erie BayHawks (2017–2019)

On October 25, 2017, Sword signed with the Erie BayHawks of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

after a tryout. On September 27, 2018, Sword re-signed with the Erie BayHawks. He joined the

Grand Rapids Drive The Grand Rapids Gold are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and are affiliated with the Denver Nuggets. The Gold play their home games at Van Andel Arena. They began play as the Anahe ...

in 2019.

Omaha's Finest (2021)

In 2021, Sword signed with Omaha's Finest of

The Basketball League The Basketball League (TBL), formerly North America Premier Basketball (NAPB), is a professional basketball league. The league began operating in North America in 2018 with eight teams, and has since expanded. TBL's regular season runs from Feb ...

Grand Rapids Gold (2021)

In October 2021, he joined the

Grand Rapids Gold The Grand Rapids Gold are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and are affiliated with the Denver Nuggets. The Gold play their home games at Van Andel Arena. They began play as the Anaheim ...

Capital City Go-Go / Washington Wizards (2021–2023)

On November 3, 2021, Sword was acquired by the

Capital City Go-Go The Capital City Go-Go are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Washington, D.C., and are affiliated with the Washington Wizards. The Go-Go play their home games at the CareFirst Arena. The team is owned by Monum ...

and on December 28, he signed a 10-day contract with the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

. 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.

Spartans Distrito Capital (2023)

On April 3, 2023, Sword signed with

Spartans Distrito Capital Spartans Distrito Capital, also known as Spartans DC, is a Venezuelan basketball club based in Caracas. The team plays in the Venezuelan SuperLiga, the premier national basketball league and won its first championship in 2020. History The Spart ...

of the Venezuelan League.

Indiana Mad Ants (2023–2024)

On September 26, 2023, Sword signed with the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

, but was waived two days later. On October 28, 2023, he joined the Indiana Mad Ants.

Tasmania JackJumpers (2024)

On May 28, 2024, Sword signed with the

Tasmania JackJumpers The Tasmania JackJumpers are an Australian professional basketball team based in Hobart, Tasmania, who entered the National Basketball League (NBL) in the 2021–22 season, and play their home games at MyState Bank Arena and the Silverdome. T ...

of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL) for the 2024–25 season. He was released by the JackJumpers on December 13, 2024, after averaging 6.3 points in 15 games.

Kaohsiung Aquas (2025–present)

On January 1, 2025, Sword signed with the

of the

(TPBL).

Career statistics

NBA

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Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, 3 , , 0 , , 6.3 , , .750 , , .000 , , .000 , , .0 , , .3 , , 1.3 , , .0 , , 2.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 3 , , 0 , , 6.3 , , .750 , , .000 , , .000 , , .0 , , .3 , , 1.3 , , .0 , , 2.0

College

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, style="text-align:left;",

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, United States. It is classified among "R ...

, 32 , , 30 , , 26.7 , , .405 , , .194 , , .554 , , 2.9 , , 2.3 , , 1.7 , , .4 , , 10.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2013–14 , style="text-align:left;",

, 32 , , 32 , , 28.1 , , .485 , , .273 , , .620 , , 3.8 , , 2.8 , , 1.9 , , .5 , , 13.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , style="text-align:left;",

, 28 , , 22 , , 24.8 , , .451 , , .360 , , .701 , , 2.8 , , 1.7 , , 1.0 , , .4 , , 11.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;",

, 31 , , 31 , , 29.2 , , .451 , , .232 , , .676 , , 3.9 , , 3.0 , , 1.3 , , .9 , , 13.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , , 123 , , 115 , , 27.3 , , .449 , , .263 , , .635 , , 3.3 , , 2.5 , , 1.5 , , .6 , , 12.1

References

External links

NBL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sword, Craig 1994 births Living people 21st-century American sportsmen American expatriate basketball people in Australia American expatriate basketball people in Mexico American expatriate basketball people in Poland American expatriate basketball people in Taiwan American expatriate basketball people in Venezuela American men's basketball players Astros de Jalisco players Basketball players from Montgomery, Alabama Capital City Go-Go players Erie BayHawks (2017–2019) players Grand Rapids Drive players Indiana Mad Ants players Kaohsiung Aquas players Mississippi State Bulldogs men's basketball players Rayos de Hermosillo players Shooting guards Spartans Distrito Capital players Taiwan Professional Basketball League imports Tasmania JackJumpers players Undrafted NBA players United States men's national basketball team players Washington Wizards players Wilki Morskie Szczecin players