This is absolutely heartbreaking for the former Eastern Washington wing.
Gonzaga’s Steele Venters will miss the 2024-2025 season due to an Achilles injury per a press release from the basketball program. Just gut-wrenching news. He’s had the absolute worst of luck possible the past couple of years, I couldn’t even imagine what’s going through his head right now.
This is the second year in a row that the former Big Sky Player of the Year out of Eastern Washington had a season-ending injury right before the campaign started. He tore his ACL around this time last year.
Venters last played during the 2022-2023 season with the Eagles and averaged 15.3 PPG on 45.7 FG%/37.1 3PT%/84.5 FT%. I expected him to go back to that version of himself when he was in Cheney this upcoming season. HIs ability to stretch the floor out would have been a luxury for the coaching staff to have.
Mark Few had this to say in Gonzaga’s press release: “We are heartbroken for Steele. He was working so hard to come back from his knee injury. We will continue to support Steele through his healing process and know he will come back better and stronger.”
Luckily, Gonzaga is deep out on the wing this upcoming season with a plethora of different options. Michael Ajayi, Khalif Battle, Dusty Stromer, Emmanuel Innocenti, Jun Seok Yeo. This injury to Venters will not change anything when it comes to Braeden Smith’s redshirt, he will still do so.
Venters was itching to get back on the court. He wants to play ball for the Zags so badly, is that too much to ask for? No athlete deserves to go through anything like this.
Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area… Follow him on Twitter @a_cravalho