Chattanooga goaltender Maleachi SmithThis year’s Southern Conference player entered college basketball’s broadcast gate Wednesday morning.
Smith immediately became one of the best players available on the portal.
Smith was a 6-foot-4 Illinois guard who was a key quarterback for the Mocs last season. He averaged 19.9 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists and shot 40.7% from a 3-point range. Some of his biggest games came against the top contenders when he had 27 points and seven rebounds against Belmont and had 36 points in the loss to Murray State three days later. He also had 25 points and 11 rebounds in the SoCon semifinals against Wofford.
Smith received a consensus award for SoCon Player of the Year.
In the 2020-21 season, Smith was an All-SoCon first-team selection after becoming the first Chattanooga player to lead the program in points, rebounds and assists that same season. He averaged 16.8 points, 8.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists this season and made 38.3% of his 3-point attempts.
Smith began his career at Wright State and spent one season before transferring to and sitting in Chattanooga.
Last season, he helped lead the Mocs to the NCAA Championship, where they lost to Illinois in the dying seconds of the first round. Coach Lamont left Paris days later to become South Carolina head coach, replacing Frank Martin.
–
