STORRS – The UConn men's basketball team has further bolstered its backcourt with the addition of high-impact transfer Malachi Smith. The 6'0 lead guard and Bronx, N.Y. native has signed an aid agreement to join the Huskies for the 2025-26 campaign after spending four seasons at Dayton. He has one year of eligibility remaining.

"We're excited to add a guard like Malachi into the mix here in Storrs," head coach Dan Hurley said. "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."

Smith played in 86 games and made 77 starts across four seasons at Dayton. He holds career averages of 9.3 points. 5.3 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game while shooting 41.1 percent from the floor and 38.8 percent from 3-point range.

As a redshirt junior in '24-25 Smith had his most productive season, starting 31 of 33 games played and posting a career-high 10.4 points with 5.3 assists in 27.8 minutes per game. He ranked 14^th nationally in assist rate and at the conclusion of the season was 12^th among active players in career assists per game (5.3) and eighth among all D-1 players in career assist/turnover ratio (2.63). As a freshman in '21-22 he led the Flyers with 175 assists, second most for a rookie in program history.

Smith holds career-highs of 22 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists – all accomplished in different seasons. As a freshman he shot a career-best 40.0 percent from 3-point range and has never shot below 38 percent in a season. His brother, Scoochie, was an All-Conference guard at Dayton.

Prior to matriculating at Dayton, Smith was a standout at St. Raymond High School for Boys in the Bronx and led the program to the 2020 NYCHSAA AA regular season championship. He was a First Team All-CHSAA pick and Third Team All-New York after his junior season before his senior year canceled by the pandemic. On the AAU circuit, Smith starred with the New York Gauchos.

UConn's incoming class for 2025-26 now stands at six, with Smith joining Georgia transfer Silas Demary Jr. and incoming freshmen Darius Adams, Jacob Furphy, Braylon Mullins and Eric Reibe.