Malachi Smith ready for Dayton Flyers to do ‘something special’ in 2022-23

The last time most Dayton fans saw Smith, he was on crutches on the bench during a game against Vanderbilt in the second round of the NIT. A sprained ankle cost Smith 2½ games and might have kept the Flyers out of the NCAA tournament.

“I still think about it today,” Smith said. “It’s rough just thinking about it. But we’re trying to move past it. It was really rough just watching. I couldn’t help my teammates in the NIT. I feel if I would have played we wouldn’t have even been in the NIT. I know if I was out there I would have helped my team a lot. Just watching, I wish I could have just been in the moment and tell everybody what to do. Usually, that’s what I’m doing on the court, telling people, ‘Everybody chill.’ The crowd is screaming. It’s an intense game. I’m usually the one to tell everybody, ‘We’ve got this.’ When I was on the bench, I couldn’t help a lot. I think Kobe Elvis tried his best (filling in at point guard). That’s not really his strength, but I think he did a very good job. I think he did everything he could.”

Without Smith in the second half against Richmond, the Flyers ran out of steam and lost in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament. A day later, UD discovered it was the first team left out of the NCAA tournament. That sequence of events will be mentioned again and again in the months ahead and used as motivation by Smith and the Flyers as they seek the program’s first March Madness experience since 2017.

The season can’t come soon enough for Smith.

“We’re ready to go,” he said. “If we had to play next week, we’d be ready to go. We’re fired up.”

First, the team has to put in the offseason work. That started in mid-June when all 12 scholarship players gathered together for the first time.

“We’ve been having skill workouts and team practices,” Smith said. “We’re just getting back in our groove, getting back to playing with each other. It’s fun getting back to it.”

Smith spent 7½ weeks in the spring rehabbing his sprained ankle. He thanked trainer Mike Mulcahey for helping him get back on the court with numerous 90-minute sessions featuring massages, stretching, strengthening exercises and other treatments.

“He came in with me every day,” Smith said. “He told me, ‘If you want to get better and get back fast, I’ve got you.’ I wanted to get the summer started and get ready to work. I had to get my strength back and my ankle mobility. I had to really restart my whole ankle. Now everything is good. I have no pain in my ankle.”

Smith returned home to the Bronx, N.Y.,in May after classes ended. He initially told his dad he didn’t want to come home at all because he was so focused on working out at UD, but the Cronin Center was closed for maintenance for a brief spell, and Smith needed a court. He was eager to play.

“There were six to eight weeks when I couldn’t touch a basketball,” Smith said. “I could just do strength and conditioning. Being on a court is so fun and just so peaceful. I can cut out all the noise. Everybody got to go back home. I stayed here for a couple days more.”

Dunks and jubilation

Smith arrived in campus in May of 2021. His claim to fame then was being the first member of Dayton’s highest-ranked recruiting class this century and being the younger brother of a Dayton legend, Scoochie Smith.

In his freshman season, Smith made a name for himself by earning a starting job in the fourth game of the season, winning the tournament MVP award at the ESPN Events Invitational and earning accolades such as an A-10 all-rookie team selection and a UD team MVP award he shared with DaRon Holmes II and Toumani Camara.

Smith ranked third on the team with 9.3 points per game and led the team in assists (5.3) and steals (1.8). He recorded 175 assists, the second most by a freshman in school history.

Many players — Scoochie being a good example — make the biggest jump from year one to year two in college, so hopes are high for Smith in the 2022-23 season. He wants to improve on the mental side of the game.

“I really want to make sure my IQ is still sharp,” he said. “I know people are probably going to be locked in on me just because I make plays and stuff like that. I just want to make sure my handle is right and I’m making the right plays and getting everybody shots. I’ve been working on my shot and getting faster and getting my my vertical up — just really everything.”

Speaking of that vertical, Smith was working out recently late at night at the Cronin Center with teammate Koby Brea — the A-10 Sixth Man of the Year — and mentioned he wanted to dunk in a game this year.

“So dunk right now,” Brea told him.

“Let me try,” Smith said.

Brea then turned a phone camera on Smith and started filming. Smith missed a couple dunks but then threw one down. He sent the video to his dad, Elliot Rosado, who shared it on Instagram and Twitter.

Smith has dunked before but never in a game. He has not attempted to dunk either. He didn’t want to try last season, miss and upset his coach, Anthony Grant. He should have more confidence to do it next season.

“For sure,” he said. “If I get a steal and a fast break, I’ve got to.”

Smith was better known as the assist many on many Dayton dunks last season. Holmes ranked sixth in the country with 82 dunks — many off alley-oop passes from Smith. Toumani Camara had 28 dunks. R.J. Blakney had 16 dunks, including a game-winning one with under a second to play against Richmond off an alley-oop from Smith.

On many of those dunks, fans enjoyed seeing Smith’s reaction as much as the dunk itself. Smith and Holmes and many of the Flyers brought a joy to the court that was evident every time they made a big play.

“One day we realized we’ve got to start celebrating,” Smith said, “and every time something happens, you just do whatever, the first thing that comes to mind. We’re screaming, dancing. DaRon’s doing some weird stuff. We’re having fun, though. That’s the main goal.”

Smith picked up right where his predecessor at point guard, Jalen Crutcher, left off, and Crutcher inherited the reins from Scoochie in 2017. Smith has talked to both former UD point guards in recent weeks.

Crutcher visited campus in June.

“We were working out together, hooping together,” Smith said. “I definitely learned some stuff. He told me to trust the coaches and ‘AG’s got you.’”

Scoochie also visited campus in June to appear at press conference for The Basketball Tournament. He’ll return to Dayton for that event later this month and also appear at a kids basketball camp with his brother. The Smith Camp will take place July 16-17 at the UD RecPlex.

The camp runs from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. each day. It costs $75 for one day or $125 for both. It’s open to kids in grades first through eighth. Campers can register online.

“I’m really excited,” Malachi said. “Just to have some kids around, there’s going to be a lot of good energy, positive energy.”

Strength and experience

That same positive energy surrounds the prospects for the 2022-23 Flyers, who are expected to be the A-10 preseason favorite and start the season in the Associated Press top 25.

“I feel like we could be really good,” Smith said. “I feel like we can really do something special here. That’s the goal.”

Dayton returns its entire starting lineup and seven of its top eight scorers. All the players have a year of experience under their belt. They’re all stronger, too. That’s especially true for Smith, who was noticeably bigger in the first offseason photos shared by the official Dayton basketball Twitter account.

Smith weighed 168 points when he arrived on campus in 2021. He measured 170 on the roster last season. He’s now 181. He said with this 6-foot stature he doesn’t want to weigh any more than 185. The extra pounds should help him on his drives to the basket.

“I definitely feel I can take more bumps,” Smith said, “and I feel it will definitely help on the defensive end as much as the offensive. Now I can guard bigger guards, maybe some forwards. I’m not planning on that, but if it happens, I feel like I’ll be able to.”

That’s not the only way Smith has changed after a year at Dayton. Everything is different going into year two with him and the team.

“The energy is definitely different,” Smith said. “We all know what we do. We all know our roles. Last year, I didn’t really know much about college basketball. But now we’ve had a whole season. We learned so much that everything is just second nature.”