Introducing ‘Caner-Medley’s Corner’- a behind-the-scenes look at a pro season with Maine’s best all-time basketball player

Back in his high school playing days in Portland, Maine, thousands of locals would turn out in the dead of winter and fill a steamy Deering High School gymnasium to see the local prodigy and budding superstar, Nik Caner-Medley, tear up the hardwood in person while they still had the chance.

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Nik Caner-Medley.

Following high school graduation in 2002- and some very impressive accolades including a national high school player of the year award- the 6’8” Caner-Medley took his brash, aggressive playing style to the University of Maryland Terrapins where he became a rare four year starter at the Atlantic Coast Conference school.

During those college years, fans back in Maine still had the opportunity to watch Caner-Medley play on TV, but once he graduated from Maryland in 2006 that was a luxury that we no longer had.

In the eight years that have followed his college graduation, Caner-Medley has become a bit of a world traveler. He bounced around the NBA Developmental League for a while before setting sail for the top professional league in Europe. Since then he’s played on seven different teams across Europe and Asia, and in the process has become widely regarded as one of the best players on that side of the world.

Caner-Medley going in for a powerful dunk.

Caner-Medley going in for a powerful dunk.

Currently, he plays for a team in Astana, Kazakhstan of the VTB United League, but he’s rehabbing from a back injury suffered in the team’ final preseason game (after averaging 23 points and 12 rebounds per game in the first seven preseason matchups).

Caner-Medley and I have been friends ever since we played together on the freshman football team at Deering way back in the fall of 1998, and over the years he’s lamented the fact that hardly any of his friends, family, or home state fans get to see him play anymore.

Well, Caner-Medley and I are excited to announce that, barring any unforeseen changes, for the remainder of Astana’s 2014-2015 season you’ll be able to find weekly updates, stats, personal insights from Caner-Medley, video highlights and even full length games right here at tides.bangordailynews.com in a series we’ve entitled, “Caner-Medley’s Corner.”

Nik Caner-Medley.

Nik Caner-Medley.

Said Caner-Medley on Tuesday, “I’m really looking forward to giving people from home some insight into the ups and downs of the grind of a season and share some of the cool moments and struggles that come in every season.”

“I can’t wait to come back from this unfortunate injury to start the season and hit the ground running. The season just started and I look forward to helping the Astana organization reach its goals.”

Caner-Medley says that the team hopes to make the playoffs in the sixteen team league. Unlike the NBA, which has thirty-two teams and an eighty-two game regular season, the VTB United League features just sixteen teams, and they all play each other twice, accounting for a thirty game regular season in which the top eight teams will qualify for the postseason playoffs.

Nik Caner-Medley at the University of Maryland.

Nik Caner-Medley at the University of Maryland.

So far, Astana has compiled a 4-4 record good for seventh place in the league standings, but with the addition of their marquee player in Caner-Medley, they hope to improve even further once he returns next week.

Astana will typically play one game a week, sometimes two, and the regular season ends in April. Keep your eyes peeled next week for the second edition of Caner-Medley’s Corner, where Nik will hopefully have some good news regarding his return to Astana’s starting lineup!

Chris Shorr

About Chris Shorr

Chris is a sixth generation Portlander who loves all things Maine. He has worked with mentally ill and marginalized adults at a Portland non-profit, on a lobster boat in Casco Bay, at several high-end Portland restaurants, and at a local meat packing plant. He also ran for Portland City Council in 2013, wrote a weekly column in the now defunct Portland Daily Sun, and currently writes a weekly column in The Portland Phoenix.