STARKVILLE — Craig Sword has been “the guy” for Mississippi State the last three seasons.
Now a senior on a veteran-heavy team, Sword is more than happy to move over and share the limelight.
The hype around the team centers on freshman guard Malik Newman. As Newman gets accustomed to senior college ball, the chance to shine could be even greater for Sword.
“He opens up a lot,” Sword said. “Everybody is watching him the whole time. I can be open at anytime.”
The Bulldogs opened practice Monday and get the 2015-16 season underway Nov. 13 with a contest against Eastern Washington inside Humphrey Coliseum. The game will tip at 8 p.m. on the SEC Network. MSU hosts Fort Valley State Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. in exhibition play.
Sword had a sore hamstring last week, but said it felt fine for the first day of practice.
The Montgomery, Alabama, native had to play point guard as a freshman and split time between there and shooting guard the last two seasons with the arrival of I.J. Ready. But there were several times when he took over games at the point guard position.
Newman is expected to be the point guard this year, and his ability to shoot and score at the rim will help Sword’s game out.
“I think having another good player in the backcourt that can shoot makes it better for Craig,” first-year coach Ben Howland said.
Sword led the Bulldogs in scoring in each of the last three years and he was the player that every opposing team would focus on when it came to game-planning for MSU.
As a freshman, Sword averaged 10.5 points per game and was named to the Southeastern Conference All-Freshmen Team. He averaged 13.7 points as a sophomore and 11.3 points as a junior last year. He was named to the All-SEC Second Team after his junior campaign.
Sword ranks 31st all-time in MSU’s history with 1,089 points.
Newman got to the MSU campus when the June summer term started. He and Sword immediately began to build a chemistry in preparation for their roles this season.
Even though they have yet to play an actual game together, Newman likes how the chemistry has progressed the last couple of months.
“It’s great even though we haven’t been playing together that long,” Newman said. “It already feels like we have one or two years under our belt together.”
Newman referred to Sword as a “hard-nosed player that likes to get to the goal” Howland called Sword the team’s best “attack the rim guy.”
The last three seasons showed everyone that watched the Bulldog program that Sword’s game revolved around scoring at the rim. But he has been working on his shot this offseason after only shooting 45.1 percent from the field and 36 percent from behind the 3-point line last season.
“(Howland) hasn’t added much,” Sword said. “He just told me to keep the ball low and don’t drop because they are going to strip me if I pull the ball down.”
Even though Sword is working on his shot more and could be a threat from the outside, he’s still going to rely on his ability to get to the rim.
“I haven’t changed anything at all. I’ve been doing the same stuff I’ve been doing the last three years,” Sword said.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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