UConn men’s basketball lands Dayton’s Malachi Smith out of transfer portal

Smith made 77 starts in three seasons with Dayton

The UConn men’s basketball team has added its second player out of the transfer portal, former Dayton guard Malachi Smith, the team announced Monday.

Smith spent three seasons with the Flyers, starting 77 of 86 career games played, and is coming a off a career-best year in which he averaged 10.4 point and 5.3 assists per game. Smith dealt with injury troubles throughout his time in Ohio, playing full seasons in only his freshman and senior years. His sophomore year, Smith played 19 games while battling ankle injuries. He missed his entire junior season with a torn meniscus in his right knee, earning an extra year of eligibility.

The Huskies poached Smith from the very team that handed them an 18-point loss in the third game of last year’s infamous Maui Invitational. Smith played 23 minutes, scoring nine points. On the year, his best performance came in a late-November game against Iowa State, when Smith scored 22 points and dished nine assists in 31 minutes.

“We’re excited to add a guard like Malachi into the mix here in Storrs,” UConn head coach Dan Hurley said in a statement. “He is a dynamic playmaker, a strong outside shooter and a veteran presence that has played in – and won – a lot of games. We have no doubt that he can be the next great New York City Husky and help our program reach our championship goals.”

The Bronx, New York native is both the second player and guard UConn has yielded out of the portal, joining former Georgia Bulldog Silas Demary Jr. He will be the sixth newcomer in Storrs next year alongside Demary and the freshmen class: Darius Adams, Jacob Furphy, Braylon Mullins and Eric Reibe.

UConn’s scholarship openings are now down to four available slots, with a fifth dependent on Alex Karaban’s impending decision to return to the team or declare for the NBA Draft.