Nik Caner-Medley
Template:Infobox Pro athlete Nik Caner-Medley (born October 20th, 1983 in Portland, Maine) is a professional basketball player for the Atlanta Krunk Wolverines. He attended University of Maryland and Deering High School, where he would capture Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior and also the state's Mr. Basketball award. He averaged an astounding 35.6 PPG average as a senior and posted a 26.8 PPG average as a junior in high school. On September 26, 2006, Caner-Medley was 5th first-round pick by the new expansion team Atlanta Krunk Wolverines in the Continental Basketball Association Draft.
High school career
Nik graduated from Deering High School of Portland, ME in 2002, where he was named player of the year in Maine and was tabbed the state's top-rated player following his junior year. Among his achievements were NHSCA Boys Basketball Athlete of the Year, Maine's Mr. Basketball and the Gatorade Player of the Year. A remarkable scorer as a senior, he tallied a school-record 51 points against South Portland, scored 47 points in consecutive games, had one game with 46 and another with 44 during his final high school campaign. He led the Rams to back-to-back Western Maine titles and led the state in scoring in back-to-back seasons with a 36.5-point average in 2002 and a 26.8-point clip in 2001. He still holds the title of Deering's career scoring leader with 1,641 points and also led the Southern Maine Athletic Association (SMAA) as a senior with 15.6 rebounds and 4.2 steals per game, and added 4.6 assists.
Collegiate career
Nik became the first true freshman to start regularly at Maryland since Steve Blake in 1999-00, totaling 18 starts in 31 games. As a small forward, he averaged 5.9 ppg and 3.5 rpg in his first collegiate season and averaged 6.0 ppg and 2.0 rpg in the Terps' three NCAA Tournament games despite missing most of the Michigan State match on March 28, 2003 after injuring his ankle. Among his post-season contributions was the 12 points and two rebounds in NCAA Tournament opening win over UNC Wilmington.
As a sophomore, he was a Terp starter in all 32 contests, finishing third on team in scoring with 12.2 points per game and was the Terps' high-scorer in eight games. His standout performance sparked the Terps in a win at No. 1 Florida on December 10, 2003 where he registered 22 points with six points in overtime and set or tied then-career bests in field goals attempted (16), 3-point field goals (3), 3-point field goals attempted (7), rebounds (13, previous career-high was eight) and minutes played (43). He later earned the Maryland Basketball "Clutch Performance of the Year" Award for his effort against Florida.
During his junior year, Nik led the Terrapins in scoring (16.0 ppg), minutes (1,008), starts (31) and 3-point field goals made (43). He posted a double-figure scoring total in 27 of 32 games, recorded 10 games of 20 points or more and was Maryland's top scorer in 13 games. On January 16, 2004, he contributed a career-high 55 points to Maryland's win over Temple, in which he made 21-for-27 FG to eclipse his previous career-high by 12 points. He averaged a team-high 26.9 ppg in ACC contests, finished third on the team in rebounding (12.2 rpg) and second in steals (43), and notched four double-doubles on the season. He earned ESPN.com National Player of the Week honors for his performance against the Blue Devils on January 31, earned BB&T Classic all-tournament honors, averaging 28.0 points and 9.0 rebounds across the weekend tournament, and was a perfect 5-for-5 in double-figure scoring contests during the Terps tour in Italy.
Personal
- Son of Joseph Medley and Janet Caner.
- Has younger brother (Patrik)
- Majored in American Studies at Maryland, but did not graduate.