Malachi Smith announces his commitment to UConn after four seasons with Dayton Flyers

Malachi Smith, who played the last four seasons with the Dayton Flyers, announced his commitment to Connecticut on Monday. He made his decision three weeks after entering the transfer portal.

“We’re excited to add a guard like Malachi into the mix here in Storrs,” UConn coach Dan Hurley said in a press release. “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 is the third Flyer to leave for a program in the top six conferences in the last two seasons. Last spring, Koby Brea transferred to Kentucky after four years at Dayton, and Koby Elvis left for Oklahoma after three seasons at Dayton. Like Brea and Elvis, Smith will graduate from the University of Dayton before playing his final season of college basketball at another school.

Connecticut expressed interest in Smith shortly after he entered the portal on March 24, his dad Elliot Rosado said that same week. Smith played against the Huskies at the Maui Invitational in November, and the Flyers won 85-67.

“We didn’t think things would move so fast,” Rosado said in March. “We were overwhelmed. I talked to Dan Hurley, and he was like, ‘I love Malachi. I need him. I saw him in Maui.’”

Hurley led UConn to back-to-back national championships in 2023 and 2024. The Huskies finished 24-11 this past season and beat Oklahoma in the first round of the NCAA tournament before losing 77-75 to eventual national champion Florida.

Smith, a 6-foot point guard from Bronx, N.Y., will join a backcourt that will include Solomon Ball, who was UConn’s second-leading scorer (14.3 points per game), and Silas Demary, Jr., who averaged 13.5 points per game as a sophomore at Georgia last season. UConn also will add two guards who rank in the top 30 of the 2025 class: 15th-ranked Darius Adams; and 29th-ranked Braylon Mullins.

Smith averaged 9.3 points and 4.3 assists in 86 games in his Dayton career. He averaged a career-best 10.4 points per game this season and started 31 of 33 games.

Smith made his decision after visiting UConn over the weekend, according to reports. He also visited Wake Forest in late March, according to his Instagram account.