Smith among injured players at Dayton’s preseason scrimmage

Of more interest to Dayton fans was the image in the video of starting point guard Malachi Smith sitting on the bench with a protective boot on his right foot.

Smith injured his left ankle in March in the Atlantic 10 Conference semifinals against Richmond and missed Dayton’s two NIT games against Toledo and Vanderbilt. Smith also missed most of the preseason as a freshman in 2021 with an injury to his right ankle.

Dayton did not respond to a request for a comment on the extent of Smith’s injury, but coach Anthony Grant and players are scheduled to talk to local media on Tuesday afternoon at the Cronin Center to preview the exhibition game at 7 p.m. Saturday against Capital University. That will be Dayton’s last preseason game before the season opener Nov. 7 against Lindenwood University.

Smith wasn’t the only Flyer on the bench and out of uniform during the scrimmage against West Virginia. Koby Brea remained sidelined and has been out for most of the preseason. Grant, who does not like to get specific about injuries, called it a “lower body injury” when asked about it after the Red & Blue Game on Oct. 15.

Richard Amaefule, who broke his foot in the spring, was also on the bench. Grant said his issue is a “carryover from his previous injury.”

Georgia transfer Tyrone Baker was also not in uniform and, in the video, appeared to have a splint on one of his fingers on his right hand. Kaleb Washington, who like Amaefule and Brea was not active for the Red & Blue Game, was not visible in the game or on the bench.

The following players did appear in action in the video: DaRon Holmes II; Toumani Camara; Kobe Elvis; R.J. Blakney; Mustapha Amzil; Zimi Nwokeji; Mike Sharavjamts; and walk-on Brady Uhl.

Smith spent close to two months in the spring rehabbing his left ankle.

“I had to really restart my whole ankle,” he said last summer. “Now everything is good. I have no pain in my ankle.”