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Apr. 6—Steele Venters, the senior wing who played 27 games at Gonzaga after missing multiple seasons due to injury, will enter the transfer portal according to multiple media outlets.
The 3-point specialist who started his career at Eastern Washington in 2019-20 will require a medical waiver from the NCAA to secure a final year of eligibility in 2026-27.
Venters becomes the fourth scholarship player at Gonzaga, joining guard Cade Orness, wing Emmanuel Innocenti and point guard Braeden Smith, who also revealed plans to enter the transfer portal on Monday.
A native of Ellensburg, Venters transferred to Gonzaga in the spring of 2023 after averaging 15.3 points and earning Big Sky Conference Player of the Year honors at Eastern Washington.
The 6-7 wing suffered an Achilles' tear during an offseason workout with assistant coach Stephen Gentry and missed the entirety of Gonzaga's 2023-24 season. Roughly one week before the team's opening in 2024-25, Venters tore his Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) during practice, pushing back his Gonzaga debut another full season.
After going more 961 days between games, Venters finally made his Gonzaga debut on Nov. 3 in the team's 2025-26 opener against Texas Southern, scoring six points in 15 minutes.
The senior wing was firmly in Gonzaga's rotation earlier in the year and made nine consecutive starts from Dec. 5 against Kentucky to Jan. 4 against Loyola Marymount.
Venters saw a dip in playing time after junior forward Braden Huff suffered a season-ending knee injury and Gonzaga shifting to more of a defensive-minded lineup.
It also coincided with a late-season surge from freshman wing Davis Fogle, who gained more playing time after Huff's injury and established himself as a key part of the rotation, averaging more than 20 minutes while scoring better than 10 points per game down the stretch of the year.
Venters played more than 10 minutes on just two occasions late in the year, logging 22 in a Feb. 4 loss to former EWU coach Shantay Legans and Portland and 13 in a Feb. 25 win over the Pilots on Senior Night. The wing didn't see the court in Gonzaga's regular-season finale at Saint Mary's or in the team's four postseason games at the West Coast Conference Tournament and NCAA Tournament.
Venters finished the season averaging 5.0 points per game, 1.3 rebounds and 1.0 assists. After making around 40% of his 3-pointers in three seasons at EWU, Venters shot a career-low 36.7% from behind the arc in his lone season at Gonzaga and made 38.6% from the field. The wing's 3-point percentage dropped during WCC play, when he made 12 of 42 (28.6%) from distance over 14 games.
The Ellensburg High graduate started his career at EWU as a walk-on, playing two seasons under Legans and two more under David Riley, who just completed his second season at Washington State. After redshirting in 2019-20, Venters played in 17 games off the bench in 2020-21 before becoming a full-time scorer and key contributor for the Eagles in 2021-22.
Venters averaged 16.7 points on 43.4% shooting from the 3-point line as a sophomore then averaged 15.3 ppg as a junior while making 37.1% from deep and earning Big Sky MVP honors. EWU captured Big Sky regular season championships during Venters' final two years at the school.
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The 3-point specialist who started his career at Eastern Washington in 2019-20 will require a medical waiver from the NCAA to secure a final year of eligibility in 2026-27.
Venters becomes the fourth scholarship player at Gonzaga, joining guard Cade Orness, wing Emmanuel Innocenti and point guard Braeden Smith, who also revealed plans to enter the transfer portal on Monday.
A native of Ellensburg, Venters transferred to Gonzaga in the spring of 2023 after averaging 15.3 points and earning Big Sky Conference Player of the Year honors at Eastern Washington.
The 6-7 wing suffered an Achilles' tear during an offseason workout with assistant coach Stephen Gentry and missed the entirety of Gonzaga's 2023-24 season. Roughly one week before the team's opening in 2024-25, Venters tore his Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) during practice, pushing back his Gonzaga debut another full season.
After going more 961 days between games, Venters finally made his Gonzaga debut on Nov. 3 in the team's 2025-26 opener against Texas Southern, scoring six points in 15 minutes.
The senior wing was firmly in Gonzaga's rotation earlier in the year and made nine consecutive starts from Dec. 5 against Kentucky to Jan. 4 against Loyola Marymount.
Venters saw a dip in playing time after junior forward Braden Huff suffered a season-ending knee injury and Gonzaga shifting to more of a defensive-minded lineup.
It also coincided with a late-season surge from freshman wing Davis Fogle, who gained more playing time after Huff's injury and established himself as a key part of the rotation, averaging more than 20 minutes while scoring better than 10 points per game down the stretch of the year.
Venters played more than 10 minutes on just two occasions late in the year, logging 22 in a Feb. 4 loss to former EWU coach Shantay Legans and Portland and 13 in a Feb. 25 win over the Pilots on Senior Night. The wing didn't see the court in Gonzaga's regular-season finale at Saint Mary's or in the team's four postseason games at the West Coast Conference Tournament and NCAA Tournament.
Venters finished the season averaging 5.0 points per game, 1.3 rebounds and 1.0 assists. After making around 40% of his 3-pointers in three seasons at EWU, Venters shot a career-low 36.7% from behind the arc in his lone season at Gonzaga and made 38.6% from the field. The wing's 3-point percentage dropped during WCC play, when he made 12 of 42 (28.6%) from distance over 14 games.
The Ellensburg High graduate started his career at EWU as a walk-on, playing two seasons under Legans and two more under David Riley, who just completed his second season at Washington State. After redshirting in 2019-20, Venters played in 17 games off the bench in 2020-21 before becoming a full-time scorer and key contributor for the Eagles in 2021-22.
Venters averaged 16.7 points on 43.4% shooting from the 3-point line as a sophomore then averaged 15.3 ppg as a junior while making 37.1% from deep and earning Big Sky MVP honors. EWU captured Big Sky regular season championships during Venters' final two years at the school.
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