How Gonzaga’s Malachi Smith gained a super fan in NFL Hall of Fame wideout Terrell Owens

LAS VEGAS – Terrell Owens was making his annual pilgrimage to Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 2019 for a homecoming football game.

As he’s been known to do during trips back to his alma mater, the former NFL wide receiver carved out time to visit the men’s basketball team, greeting players and offering words of advice that could galvanize the Moccasins as they entered a new season.

On his way out, Owens was stopped by one of Chattanooga’s newer players, a 19-year-old redshirt freshman guard who wanted to relay a message.

“Hey, you don’t know me yet,” the player said. “I’m not playing this year, but when I play, you’re going to know me.”

Owens, of all people, was able to appreciate the confidence and conviction. The player held up his end of the bargain, producing big numbers when the former NFL star returned to attend a home Chattanooga basketball game the following season.

That’s how Malachi Smith, and now as a byproduct, Gonzaga, gained a super fan in the six-time Pro Bowl receiver who caught 153 touchdowns and totaled nearly 16,000 yards over the course of a decorated 11-year career in the NFL.

Owens made good on a promise to Smith that he’d attend a Gonzaga game this season. He couldn’t get to Spokane due to schedule conflicts, but told Smith he’d be in Las Vegas if the Bulldogs advanced to the Sweet 16.

It played out that way and Owens sat approximately 15 rows behind Gonzaga’s bench during a stirring, come-from-behind 79-76 win over UCLA Thursday night at T-Mobile Arena.

“I’m really proud of the way he’s going about it,” Owens said. “He’s very mature, I think, for his age. Definitely his mom’s there right beside him, taking her along the way with his journey, and he’s going to make all the right decisions. He’s letting God obviously direct him and guide him, and that’s what I like most about him. He’s going to be a good kid. He’s got a bright future.”

On more than one occasion, television cameras panned to the cluster of Gonzaga fans Owens was sitting with Thursday evening. Wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and designer sunglasses, Owens tossed his arms in the air, recreating one of his classic touchdown celebrations, when Smith knocked down a 3-pointer to give Gonzaga its first double-digit lead with less than 3 minutes remaining.

Owens learned about Smith three to four years before the rest of the country started to catch on.

The fifth-year guard, who’s played at Wright State, Chattanooga and now Gonzaga, has led the Bulldogs in 3-point percentage this season, winning West Coast Conference Sixth Man of the Year honors.

“For Malachi to be a player of the year in his conference and to come here and come off the bench, I just think it’s a true testament to his character,” Gonzaga senior Drew Timme said. “I don’t know how many people are just in general OK with accepting a lesser role because he’s more capable than I think you guys see.”

Gonzaga trailed 46-33 at halftime on Thursday, but Owens correctly foreshadowed how the second half would play out for Gonzaga during a halftime conversation with The Spokesman-Review.

“They’re down right now, but there’s always two halves to a game,” Owens said “… Obviously they’re going to go in there and make halftime adjustments. You’re probably going to see a different Gonzaga team coming out in the second half.”

A different Gonzaga team and a more assertive Smith.

The former Chattanooga standout, who’s accepted a bench role at Gonzaga coming off SoCon Player of the Year honors in 2021-22, scored 12 of his 14 points after halftime, pulled down six rebounds and played solid defense on UCLA’s formidable guard line of Tyger Campbell and Amari Bailey.

“He never complains. He comes in. He works hard,” Timme said. “He does everything that’s asked of him and more. And I think that’s what’s most admirable about him is that he could do that a lot, but he knows on this team it’s not his role every night.”

Smith, who’s considered Owens a mentor and friend since their initial meeting at Chattanooga four years ago, said the two exchanged glances at various points of Thursday’s game.

An audacious NFL receiver known for his self-belief and swagger, Owens has a story similar to Smith’s. Both were lightly recruited high school players who had to go the extra mile at smaller colleges – two of them in Smith’s case – to gain notoriety and attention.

“People sometimes confuse his confidence with arrogance, but he’s put the work in and time in, so obviously his confidence and ability, he just tells me to be the same thing,” Smith said. “When you go out there, you know you put the work in and be confident in every shot, every moment. During the game, he kept looking at me and he was like, ‘Next play it’s going to be OK. Next shot.’ So yeah, he’s been real good to me.”

Coming out of Belleville High School in Illinois, Smith carried just three scholarship offers, from Wright State, Missouri State and Montana State. After earning Horizon League All-Freshman Honors in 2019, Smith made a move to Chattanooga, sitting out in 2019-20 due to transfer rules that have since been abolished by the NCAA.

“I’m going to be honest, I cried every game during my redshirt season,” Smith said during a recent guest appearance on The Spokesman-Review’s Take 22 podcast with GU teammate Anton Watson. “I cried every game, I didn’t watch the away games at all.”

Owens also overcame adverse moments during his time at Chattanooga – the Mocs won just 13 games in his four seasons there – before emerging as a third-round NFL draft pick in 1996.

“Sometimes it’s disappointing when you’re not where you wanted to be, but you make the best of the moments you have and the opportunities you have,” Owens said. “So Malachi’s definitely done that and what I really like about him, he’s a God-fearing man … and hey, the kid can ball. Last year he played well for us at Chattanooga and he wanted to see what he could do at another level.

“So, he’s doing very, very well. I’m proud of him.”

Smith and Owens communicate through the season – “He’s always been someone I can just call at any moment,” Smith said – and Owens joined the Bulldogs for dinner on the eve of their Sweet 16 game.

Smith’s mother, Connie, offered up a “Go Mocs” to Owens as she waked down an aisle at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday.

“I didn’t get to go to an actual home game, but I watched him play TCU,” Owens said. “Came in and played some valuable minutes, hit a couple big 3s. Came in, made a couple big plays, tied up the guy, jump ball. So again, he knows his role. He’s going to do well. He’s doing well.”

Owens and Smith will have something else in common after Saturday night.

During the 1994-95 season, Owens played on the Moccasins’ NCAA Tournament basketball team. Chattanooga’s first-round opponent was the same UConn program Smith and the Zags will take on on Saturday with a Final Four berth on the line. Owens played 1 minute in 100-71 loss to Ray Allen and the Huskies.

During trips back to Chattanooga over the past few years, Owens would routinely challenge Smith to a shooting competition.

A 50% 3-point shooter for the Zags this year, Smith maintained a perfect record in those contests, often to the dismay of his competitive 49-year-old ex-NFL player.

“Whenever I would record him missing, he would get mad,” Smith said. “But he did play and that’s what makes him such a great athlete. We’ve had our shooting contests and I’ve always won them, so don’t let him tell you different.”

After a dramatic finish in Thursday’s Sweet 16 game, Smith found Owens behind Gonzaga’s bench. The two exchanged a hug, traded a few words and took a photo that Owens later posted to his Instagram.

“He said, ‘That’s what you do,’ ” Smith said. “He’s seen me for the past three years, so he knew I was going to do that and I contributed. So he was proud of me.”