Malachi Smith, Prosper Obidiebube join UTC men's basketball team

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The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga has announced the signings of Malachi Smith and Prosper Obidiebube for the men's basketball program.

Smith is a 6-foot-3 guard transferring from Wright State after making the Horizon League all-freshman team this past season. A graduate of Belleville (Illinois) West High School, he will have three years of eligibility with the Mocs after sitting out the 2019-20 season.

Obidiebube is a 6-8, 210-pound forward from Lagos, Nigeria, by way of St. Anthony Catholic School in San Antonio, Texas, and a year in the prep program at Aspire Basketball Academy in Louisville, Kentucky, where he averaged 16 points, 10 rebounds and three assists a game and hit 36% of his 3-point shots.

"Very excited about both young men and what they can bring to our program," Mocs coach Lamont Paris said in UTC's release. "They give us two high-quality student-athletes who are serious about their education as well as their game. Both are very good players with high ceilings.

"It was important for us to get a couple of younger guys this period balancing grad transfers and our older players as we continue to build toward the future. Both are really good additions that will help us build a sustaining winning culture."

Smith, Paris said, "is a really good player who can play all three perimeter positions. He has good size and versatility at the guard spot. What I am most excited about is he plays both sides of the ball (offensively and defensively). He's already established himself as a capable college player, but he works hard - everyone keeps telling us he's a gym rat - so his future is very bright.

"Prosper has an extremely high ceiling," Paris said. "He's a tremendous athlete, and it's what I call functional athleticism. His ability to change directions quickly and start and stop effortlessly along with exciting verticality really catch the eye. He has good touch on his jump shot. He's similar to Malachi in that he's very versatile."

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