The Chaminade men’s basketball team has started off the season with a lot of buzz and excitement surrounding a new key transfer Nathan Medina. With the season just starting, all eyes are on Medina to see how he will continue to shape the team’s performance in the games ahead.
Since transferring this year from Biola University, Medina, a 6-foot-3-inch guard from Long Beach, California has quickly made an impact on the Chaminade Silverswords men’s basketball team. Bringing with him a reputation for sharpshooting and confident scoring, the transfer has transitioned into the Swords’ lineup, becoming a huge factor for the Swords offense.
In an early exhibition game against University of Hawai‘i, Medina scored 17 points, including three 3-pointers, showing his ability to stretch defenses and create scoring opportunities. He followed that with a 34-point game in the season opener at the Alaska–Hawai‘i Challenge, hitting six of 10 from 3. Most recently, he scored 30 points, including eight 3-pointers, against the Division I University of Texas in the Maui Invitational on national TV.
“I arguably had, like, the game of my life, but then we lost by 40,” Medina said. “So you have to take it with a grain of salt. But it was honestly a cool experience.”
Medina was selected as PacWest Conference Player of the Week for the last week of November after averaging 17.0 points across three games at the Southwest Maui Invitational.
According to GoSwords.com, this was the most points scored by a Silversword in the Maui Invitational since 2013. He now leads Chaminade with 18.2 points per game, which is third-best in the PacWest Conference.
He has already shown that he’s going to be a strong factor for the Swords this season, showing he’s a leader on and off the court, bringing experience from his past three seasons.
“I’m the only returning player that has been on all-conference teams, so I think that my experience will help our team stay afloat during the conference season,” said Medina. “I’m hoping to bring maturity, leadership, and experience to this team and make it to the NCAA regional tournament.”
His teammates, including senior Brycen Shackelford, a senior forward who has been a part of the team all four years, thinks that this season the Swords have the players they need to make it far.
“Medina has been the biggest impact guy transferring in,” said Shackelford. “He’s a very active defender, a great guy, and a really good shooter that is elite from all three levels, making him hard to stop.”
With the season still young, Medina’s growth and the team’s shows no signs of slowing down. His scoring ability, leadership, and renewed confidence have made him one of the most dynamic players so far in the conference. Since being a Silversword and starting the season, he said that he’s been able to grow in ways he didn’t know he could.
“I get to play completely free, and it’s a lot of fun to get to play basketball the way that I love to play,” Medina said. “And honestly, it’s really unlocked certain parts of my game that I didn’t know that I had. I think that I’m better than I ever have been in all my three years of Biola, so I’m really grateful for it.”
The Chaminade men’s basketball team next plays Tuesday against Hawaii Pacific University at HPU’s Shark Tank. Tipoff is 7 p.m.