“Everybody is rooting for him:” Steele Venters puts on shooting show at Kraziness in Kennel

Steele Venters was still processing his emotions nearly an hour after Gonzaga’s Kraziness in the Kennel concluded Saturday.

Venters, sidelined the last two seasons by injuries, won the 3-point contest and then buried three 3-pointers in a team scrimmage, more than enough to qualify as a feel-great moment for the 6-foot-7 wing from Ellensburg and a fan base eager to see him in action.

“It feels amazing to be back in this place with the fans, just being able to compete again,” Venters said. “It’s been a heck of a grind the last two years and it’s just been a blessing to get where I am. To come out and do what I did feels very good.”

And very emotional.

“For sure 100%,” Venters said. “I came up after the scrimmage and my dad was crying. That definitely got me. Seeing him cry, that was bigtime.”

Venters, who transferred to GU from Eastern Washington, participated in Kraziness in the Kennel in his first season as a Zag before tearing his ACL just days before the season opener. He tore his Achilles tendon last August, leading to another lost season and lengthy recovery.

He’s been fully cleared since August, but the coaching staff didn’t rush his return, often having Venters play a rep and sit out the next one. He gets standard tape jobs on his ankles and isn’t wearing any braces.

Asked how his body feels now compared to October, 2023, before suffering the first of two major injuries, Venters said, “Way better honestly. ‘TK’ (Travis Knight, GU strength and conditioning coach) has done a great job, getting me more mobile, faster, agile. I’ve added about 20 pounds since I got here.”

Throughout tedious rehabilitation, Venters always worked on his shooting form.

“Two years of form shooting and shooting off one leg, that (shooting stroke) will never leave,” said Venters, who made 40.3% of his 3-pointers in 84 games at EWU.

Venters edged Arizona State transfer guard Adam Miller to claim the 3-point contest. Venters had the best score in the preliminary round with 21 followed by Miller’s 18. Each contestant attempted 25 3s and were credited with two points if they made the last ball on each of the five racks.

Venters heated up late in the final to finish with 19, two ahead of Miller.

“He can shoot it,” Venters said of Miller, who made three 3s and scored a team-high 13 points in the Blue team’s 41-39 scrimmage victory over White.

“We actually have a board of all the shooting competitions and we’re exchanging our names every other day. It’s been great to have another guy like that that can shoot it. We are just pushing each other.”

Venters and Miller combined for six of GU’s seven made 3s in the scrimmage. The rest of the Zags combined to go 1 of 12 from distance.

“Obviously I’m out there to make winning plays and help the team win,” Venters said. “But at the end of the day, I was brought here to shoot the ball and create space for those bigs and let them go to work.”

Senior post Graham Ike, a candidate for All-American honors, missed most of his freshman season at Wyoming with an injury and sat out the 2022-23 campaign with a foot injury before transferring to Gonzaga.

“Before we walked out for intros, I just gave him a big hug (and said) ‘I’m just happy to have you back out here,’ ” Ike said. “Just to see the lights and fans and have him back on the court, it just means so much because I know the journey he’s been through just to get back has been a tough one.

“But there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. As you saw, we’re going to get a lot of 3s from Steele, high-energy plays and winning basketball.”

Head coach Mark Few, who watched the scrimmage from a seat on the bench while assistants handled coaching duties, said Venters’ performance didn’t come as a surprise.

“Gosh, I mean everybody is rooting for him,” Few said. “It was just heartbreaking the last two years, but he’s handled it so well and worked himself back into great shape. He looked tonight basically like he looked all summer and fall.”