Atlantic 10 Basketball: 6 potential breakout stars for 2022-23 season

Malachi Smith: Guard, Dayton Flyers

Smith is one half, alongside Sophomore classmate DaRon Holmes, of what could easily be the best one-two punch in the Atlantic 10 this year. The 6’0” PG from the Bronx was a monster on the defensive end of the floor last year for the Flyers, averaging 1.8 steals per contest and ending the season ranked 5th in the A10 for defensive win shares.

He also crashed the boards extremely well for his size, pulling down 4.1 rebounds per game, and on the offensive end, he was far from shabby with 9.3 points and 5.3 assists per outing as well. The playmaking ability in particular was on full display to end last season, as Smith accrued 65 assists on just 14 turnovers over the Flyers’ final 10 games.

This year, Dayton will have one of the most loaded rosters in the league, and they are a coin flip with SLU (and perhaps VCU) at this point to end up with the 1-seed in Brooklyn, but the PG position is firmly in Smith’s control. He is already one of the vocal and emotional leaders of this group and he is way ahead of his time developmentally for a rising Sophomore.

Even in a league that’s absolutely chock-full of talented and more experienced Point Guards, Smith has a chance to end up separating himself as the very best one.