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Chattanooga guard Malachi Smith, the Southern Conference Player of the Year, entered the college basketball transfer portal Wednesday morning. Smith immediately becomes one of the top players available in the portal. A 6-foot-4 guard from Illinois, Smith was a premier mid-major guard last season for the Mocs. He averaged 19.9 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists and shot 40.7% from 3-point range. Some of his biggest games came against top competition, as he went for 27 points and seven rebounds against Belmont and then scored 36 points in a loss to Murray State three days later. He also had 25 points and 11 rebounds in the SoCon semifinals against Wofford. Smith earned consensus SoCon Player of the Year honors. During the 2020-21 season, Smith was a first-team All-SoCon selection after becoming the first Chattanooga player to lead the program in points, rebounds and assists in the same season. He averaged 16.8 points, 8.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists that season and made 38.3% of his 3-point attempts. Smith started his career at Wright State, where he spent one season before transferring and sitting out at Chattanooga. This past season, he helped lead the Mocs to the NCAA tournament, where they fell in the final seconds to Illinois in the first round. Coach Lamont Paris left days later to become the head coach at South Carolina, replacing Frank Martin.
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