Eddie Smith called his hiring as Washington’s newest baseball coach a homecoming. Two weeks into his tenure, Smith is extending that homecoming to his players.
Smith and the Huskies earned a commitment from UCLA outfielder Malakhi Knight on Tuesday, bringing the rising senior home to Washington after three seasons with the Bruins.
Knight, a native of Marysville, Washington, slashed .260/.344/.341 over 91 games at UCLA while starting nearly every game in center field. Two of his three career home runs came in the 2024 season in just 75 at-bats.
Once ranked the top prospect in the West Coast League by Baseball America, Knight was the top-ranked player in the state of Washington in the class of 2021. Recruiting services had him ranked as the No. 4 outfielder and No. 19 player in the country in that class after he was named Gatorade’s Washington State Player of the Year.
Primarily a defensive specialist, Knight joins Smith, an Olympia native, in turning Washington baseball into a local affair. The Huskies will hope that leaning into their local talent resources will lead to more wins after going 19-31-1 last season before coach Jason Kelly elected to leave Montlake to become Texas A&M’s pitching coach after the season.
Knight was ranked as the No. 95 prospect in the 2021 MLB draft by MLB.com and was rumored to potentially be selected as high as the mid-second round, but he announced his intentions to withdraw from the selection process and honor his commitment to the Bruins between the first and second nights of that year’s draft.