Camden’s Cian Medley prospered into a leader for the Panthers: ‘He puts other people first’

Camden High assistant coach Maurice Clark recalled a moment with guard Cian Medley. This particular memory, though, goes back about 10 years. The two lived in the same housing complex, where Clark saw firsthand that Medley had a natural grasp for basketball.

Young Medley, who always had a ball bouncing in his hand, played in a Washington Township rec league. One game, he scored 40 points. So Medley bragged to his former neighbor, Clark, once a player at Lincoln University, about the dominant performance.

However, Clark asked, “Well, how many assists did you have?” Medley responded with a muddled face and answered, “I got maybe four or five.”

“When he was younger, I used to try to evolve his [thinking about] teammates to the point where they’re getting involved and he’s getting 20 assists,” said Clark, who later became a coach on Medley’s AAU team, Team Final. “Versus go out there and go for self. Get your teammates involved and just be a leader.”

The 6-foot guard, who led the Panthers in assists (166 total, averaging 6.6 a game) this season, learned early on about being a team player, and it later served as one of Medley’s strong suits in his game. The senior also morphed into a vocal leader and floor general. But it all started from his willingness to get better and absorb the game from those around him.

“I was a point guard at the end of the day, so I had to try to lead my team,” said Medley, who’s taking his talents to St. Louis in the fall. “I had to be more vocal, lead more, and share the wave for the young guys, because it’s not just about me.”

When the three-star recruit made the switch from a local team to AAU in the sixth grade, Medley had to adapt to a higher level of competition. And while playing for Team Final, he crossed paths again with Clark, who was a former assistant coach at Gloucester Tech, helping coach youth travel basketball.

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Clark could see Medley had a ton of potential, so he took the guard under his wing, along with teammate DJ Wagner, and trained them outside of practice.

“When I first went over to Team Final, he kind of was just a rotational guy,” Clark said about Medley. “I was always around him in the neighborhood, so if I hear a basketball bounce, nine times out of 10, it was Cian outside. He’d ride with me to practice or whatever the case may be, and our relationship just grew from there.

“He spent the majority of his summers with me working out. Then when he got around sixth, seventh, eighth grade, that’s when we put a lot more time in, especially with him and DJ. They were always with me during those times as far as development.”

Medley credits Clark for fixing his jump shot. Besides summer training, he also realized through playing travel ball that he didn’t have to be the star player, Medley said, but rather good at his role.

“Just having him around was good for me,” Medley said. “He put me around a lot of people, those who also helped me with my game. He knows the game; he helped transform my game and help me realize who I was as a player.”

In his freshman year, Medley played on varsity. He looked up to seniors like Lance Ware, now a junior at Kentucky, who taught him how to read certain plays and overcome those in-game jitters.

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Clark joined the Panthers that same year under former Camden head coach Rick Brunson. He could see Medley’s gears were still turning. Even as he got older, and was playing for a nationally ranked team, the bigger stage never affected his ability to be coached.

One instance came against Bishop Eustace on Feb. 14. Clark mentioned a play to Medley the first time they played the Crusaders this season, when he would throw the ball off someone’s back during an inbounds play, then try to go for a layup. Without asking or bringing it up, Medley executed the play the next time around.

“He’s really attentive to little stuff like that,” Clark said. “He’ll do it even in practices. He’s a direct extension of his coach or his head coach. Rick and Maalik [Wayns] that’s exactly what they want out of you. He does really well with trying ways to better suit what we’re doing as a whole.”

Medley’s senior season, however, came to an abrupt end. Camden’s players, which also include Kentucky signees Wagner (ESPN’s No. 2 recruit) and Aaron Bradshaw (No. 4), got into an on-court altercation with Eastside High players on Feb. 16.

The Camden City School District decided that the two teams would be withdrawn from the NJSIAA tournament, leaving the Panthers (23-3) unable to defend the Group 2 state championship.

But even when tensions were high during the game, Medley’s leadership prevailed. As Wagner tried to charge after an Eastside player, Medley immediately grabbed his teammate from behind and he held the combo guard back.

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“I think it was understanding the big picture,” said Cian’s mother, Brandi Medley. “We have a lot to look forward to after this game. We can talk about it as a team, but right now, let’s go ahead and play the game.”

Clark added: “He still sticks up for his guys, but at the same token, he also tries to prevent them from getting into anything. ... It’s just making the right choices when emotions are flaring and kind of overboard. It’s something that we all have to work on.”

Medley’s next focus? Being the leader he was with the Panthers when he gets to Missouri. Medley committed to the Billikens program in August during his visit. He felt that the school replicated a similar system to Camden High — in terms of coaches, players, and the facility.

“It’s a family culture,” Medley said. “St. Louis is somewhere I feel like I could focus, not somewhere I could go to do something dumb. It’s a small campus, where I could just focus on my craft, go to class, and everything I’m supposed to do.”

When asked if there’s a memory that stands out for him while competing at Camden, his answer wasn’t about an individual performance or even winning a championship. The guard said competing with “my brothers” is the one that comes to mind.

“He cares about others; he puts other people first,” Clark said. “He’s very vibrant; he can bring a room alive with a smile. Those things make him who he is. He’s able to really help orchestrate and control the team and help a coach do it as well, so that’s going to definitely help him at the next level.”