{"id":184162,"date":"2026-04-03T03:52:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T03:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/184162\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T03:52:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T03:52:08","slug":"uconns-malachi-smith-looks-to-inspire-kids-from-bronx-puerto-rico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/184162\/","title":{"rendered":"UConn’s Malachi Smith looks to inspire kids from Bronx, Puerto Rico"},"content":{"rendered":"

INDIANAPOLIS \u2013 UConn<\/a> senior guard Malachi Smith hopes to make the best of his opportunity to play in the Final Four, which he assumes will be the largest stage of his basketball career.<\/p>\n

Smith transferred to UConn after four years at the University of Dayton. The 6-foot-1 guard from the Bronx came off the bench this season at UConn.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s the last player from New York\u2019s five boroughs left in the NCAA Tournament although he\u2019s one of two St. Raymond High School for Boys graduates playing a key role in the 2026 Final Four in Indianapolis. Illinois associate head coach Orlando Antigua <\/a>graduated from St. Raymond in 1991.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels good,\u201d Smith says of representing New York. \u201cSome people have been saying New York City\u2019s been down, so it feels good to put the city back on the map. That\u2019s where I\u2019m from. That\u2019s where I was raised, so it feels good.\u201d<\/p>\n

UConn will face Illinois on Saturday at 6:05 p.m. at Lucas Oil Stadium in the first semifinal. Michigan will face Arizona in the second semifinal.<\/p>\n

Our Esquina visited with Smith during UConn\u2019s media availability session Thursday afternoon in Indianapolis. <\/p>\n

Q&A with Malachi Smith<\/p>\n

Question: How\u2019s the reception been on campus and from friends since beating Duke in the Elite Eight?<\/p>\n

Smith: I\u2019ve had a lot of people text me that are proud of me. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s really hit me that we\u2019re in the Final Four. Once I saw the size of the court though I said \u201cWoe this is going to be crazy\u201d. But I don\u2019t think it\u2019s fully hit me yet. It feels good though to have so many people text me and tell me that they\u2019re proud.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Question: Your teammate made a 3-pointer in the final second to knock Duke out of the tournament. How many times have you watched that replay?<\/p>\n

Smith: I\u2019ve seen it a lot but I keep watching it and reading people\u2019s reactions to it. I\u2019ve seen it so many times but it still does not feel real. That was the craziest moment that I\u2019ve ever lived in. I saw the ball in the air and knew it had a chance to go in.<\/p>\n

MORE FROM OUR ESQUINA<\/p>\n

Optimistic Orlando Antigua counts blessing helping Illinois<\/a><\/p>\n

Mexican teen prodigy Karim Lopez moves closer to NBA dream<\/a><\/p>\n

Warriors center Al Horford keeps inspiring<\/a><\/p>\n

Question: Given your Puerto Rican background, what\u2019s it been like playing this far into the tournament?<\/p>\n

Smith: This is definitely the highest level I\u2019ve played at and to represent New York City and Puerto Rico, on my dad\u2019s side, it\u2019s amazing. I just want people and younger kids especially to know that they can do it. Me coming from the Bronx, it\u2019s really special to be here.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018Stay in your lane\u2019<\/p>\n

Question: What advice would you give to kids that come from where you come from?<\/p>\n

Smith: Stay in your lane. There will be ups and downs but try to have fun on the journey. Keep your head down, keep a smile on your face and put the work in.<\/p>\n

Question: You\u2019ve been so resilient coming back from multiple injuries. Does being here make it all feel worth it?<\/p>\n

Smith: It\u2019s definitely made it worth it. I\u2019ve had four surgeries. I tore my meniscus, had two ankle surgeries, then tore my meniscus again. My ankle injuries were the worst, and I had to have reconstructive surgery.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

To make it this far in my last year and knowing that I\u2019m playing pretty well and that we\u2019re winning, it means everything to me.<\/p>\n

Grateful for dad\u2019s support <\/p>\n

Question: Your dad played a big role in your life. Was he a big factor in you not giving up when you were battling injuries?<\/p>\n

Smith: Yeah he took it harder than me, he was crying when I got hurt. I told him we\u2019re going to be alright. He told me we were going to be alright. Eventually it worked out and I\u2019m so happy to be here right now. I\u2019m blessed because I could be somewhere else. I could have taken the wrong path and I\u2019m still here.\u00a0<\/p>\n

My dad and my parents were there for me the whole time. To have that support and know they have my back really helped me alot.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Question: What would you say is the reason you\u2019ve been playing so well in March, probably better than you did during the regular season?<\/p>\n

Smith: The coaching staff has helped me lock in. Even though my minutes have fluctuated throughout the season, my parents have been telling me to stay ready. And my coaches all year have told me that they\u2019re going to need me to win. So I try to keep that in the back of my mind and no matter how many minutes I play, I\u2019m going to bring as much energy as I can to the games.<\/p>\n

Question: Before transferring to UConn, you were a starter and averaged 30 minutes per game when you were at Dayton. How\u2019s the transition been to a new role?<\/p>\n

Smith: It was hard for me to go from playing so much every game to not knowing how many minutes I would get each game. But my main thing when I entered the transfer portal was to win and play in the tournament. And I\u2019m doing that now.<\/p>\n

Question: What other schools were you considering when you entered the transfer portal?<\/p>\n

Smith: Wake Forest and St. Johns, but UConn made me feel like a priority. I would\u2019ve loved playing at St. John\u2019s, it being 30 minutes away from me but UConn is also close by.<\/p>\n

\u2018Intense\u2019 Coach Hurley <\/p>\n

Question: What was your impression of Coach Hurley before you got here and now that you\u2019ve been here for a year?<\/p>\n

Smith: Before I got here I just realized he\u2019s an intense, passionate person and it\u2019s been that times 10 since I\u2019ve been here. Since our first workout in June he was intense to the practice we just had right now. It works so I don\u2019t think he\u2019s going to change but I wish we\u2019d get a day off, I\u2019m hurting (said jokingly).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Question: What\u2019s behind UConn\u2019s success, this being the 3rd Final Four in 4 years?<\/p>\n

Smith: I give all praise to the coaching staff. They make sure we\u2019ve been locked in since Day 1 in June.<\/p>\n

\"Padilla<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"INDIANAPOLIS \u2013 UConn senior guard Malachi Smith hopes to make the best of his opportunity to play in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":184163,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,5350,54589,9,24,63,19090,129,131,130,66716],"class_list":{"0":"post-184162","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-the-bronx","8":"tag-bronx","9":"tag-illinois","10":"tag-malachi-smith","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-city","13":"tag-nyc","14":"tag-puerto-rico","15":"tag-the-bronx","16":"tag-the-bronx-headlines","17":"tag-the-bronx-news","18":"tag-uconn"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184162\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/184163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}