Gonzaga rewind: Steele Venters’ flying dunk another sign of wing’s progress since returning from injuries

Anyone still wondering how Steele Venters is holding up physically after missing two full seasons with injury might find their answer by pulling up video of the soaring dunk he converted in the second half of Gonzaga’s 98-70 victory over Campbell Wednesday at McCarthey Athletic Center.

The state of Venters’ surgically-repaired ACL and reconstructed Achilles’ tendon? Just fine, evidently.

His spirits and confidence 12 games into the season for seventh-ranked Gonzaga? Better than ever.

“I surprised myself, I’m not going to lie,” Venters said of the dunk. “But it felt good, it felt good. It felt like I was 18 again.”

Seated two chairs down during a postgame news conference, Braden Huff, fresh off a career-high 37-point effort against Campbell, was more animated when the subject of his teammate’s dunk came up than he was reflecting on his individual numbers in a game where the forward made his first 13 shots from the field and set a Kennel record with 16 made field goals.

“He got up there,” Huff interjected as Venters was speaking. “He got up there.”

With just under 16 minutes remaining in the second half, Venters cut toward the left elbow when he received a short pass from Graham Ike. Campbell guard Tasos Cook followed Venters around Jalen Warley’s screen to make sure the Gonzaga wing, a 39% distance shooter who’s buried 196 3-pointers over four college seasons, didn’t get a clean look from behind the arc.

Venters used a subtle-but-effective pump fake to get Cook in the air. That was his cue to glide to the basket, untouched, and throw down a right-handed dunk that sent virtually every player and coach on Gonzaga’s bench into an all-out frenzy.

“He’s had a couple in practice,” point guard Braeden Smith said. “But we were not expecting that, just a one-dribble punch. So that was pretty cool.”

Big picture, it was another moment that validated the work Venters has put in, mostly behind the scenes with doctors and trainers, since returning to the court from successive ACL and Achilles injuries that delayed his Gonzaga debut by two years.

“I think that just shows the confidence in his Achilles and confidence in his ACL repair. Kudos to Josh (Therrien), our trainer, and (strength coach) Travis (Knight) and the doctors here, the orthopedic guys that help us with all that and that’s a team deal. That’s an athlete that’s playing with confidence and believes his knee and Achilles are back to normal, and they’re probably even stronger than normal now. It’s pretty cool to see.”

Not surprisingly, Venters’ outside shooting didn’t regress during that time period. The wing was still able to take stationary shots while rehabbing from his injuries and after a touchy start to the season, Venters is now making just a shade 40% of his 3’s, including 16 of his last 35 (45%) since the start of the Players Era Festival.

He scored in double figures for the fourth time this season, posting 13 points on 5 of 6 shooting and 3 of 4 from the 3-point line. Venters also had three steals – the fourth time this season he’s had at least two in a game.

Few was asked Wednesday about moving Venters into the starting lineup before Gonzaga’s 94-59 win over Kentucky. Venters and junior Emmanuel Innocenti both joined the starting unit, replacing Tyon Grant-Foster and Adam Miller.

“We need some guys that can spread the floor, we need some guys that’ll hunt shots,” Few said. “In Steele’s case, he’s got to keep working on keeping guys in front and not getting blown by and helping us on that defensive end, too. It’s not just all about shots. But the one thing with Steele that helps is he’ll really space the floor and they’ve got to guard him out at 30 feet.”

Venters was cleared for full-contact practice earlier in the summer and has played anywhere from 13 to 23 minutes for Gonzaga this season, scoring 26 points over two games against Alabama and Maryland in Las Vegas.

Despite undergoing medical procedures that set his college basketball clock back two years, the 24-year-old Venters doesn’t believe he’s lost any of his burst or athleticism.

“I would say the same,” he said. “I feel really good. Trainers have done a great job getting me back to where I am and yeah, I feel super comfortable.”

Comfortable enough to get off the ground in the second half of Wednesday’s game and surprise roughly 6,000 fans, teammates, coaches and media members with his second dunk of the season.

Venters and Huff, not known as above-the-rim players, currently have a dinner bet on who will finish the season with the most dunks. The tally is even after Venters’ second-half jam on Wednesday.

“I didn’t count my little spin put-in, it was a grazer,” Huff said. “I think we’re both at two right now. Low scoring, but it should come down to the wire.”