‘Coach, I just want to play’: Gonzaga’s Steele Venters working to return after losing two seasons to injuries
WICHITA, Kan. – Put yourself in Steele Venters’ shoes last August.
You’ve worked diligently to return from a torn right ACL that sidelined you for the 2023-24 season. Days from being fully cleared, during a shooting drill with Gonzaga assistant coach Stephen Gentry, you come around a pin-down screen and start to accelerate.
“I like skip-stepped and went to reattack and it kind of popped,” Venters said. “I knew right away, just a freak accident.”
Venters knew he’d torn his left Achilles tendon and knew a second straight season would be spent doing months of rehabilitation and watching from the bench instead of playing with his teammates.
Put yourself in Venters’ mind.
“Disbelief,” he said. “I thought it was a nightmare. I was definitely emotional because I was doing everything I could to get back from the knee, I wanted to have a big role and it happens again. It’s just tough.”
Put yourself in Gentry’s mind. He recruited Venters when the 6-foot-7 wing opted to transfer from Eastern Washington to Gonzaga in April 2023.
“I remember vividly walking into the coaches locker room and I was probably as white as that (gesturing at a white sign on the wall). I just laid down, sick to my stomach because we all kind of knew,” Gentry said Wednesday in Gonzaga’s locker room at INTRUST Bank Arena, where the Zags will face Georgia in an NCAA Tournament opener Thursday. “The next two days I slept in my basement I was literally so sick for the kid, I was so torn up about it.
“I remember walking him out of the arena and he was like, ‘Coach, I just want to play.’ He was just so close to being back. People forget that year before, we had a closed scrimmage against Baylor and he had 14 points, our second-leading scorer. He came to Gonzaga for all the right reasons. He was just a pro about how he handled the (torn ACL), battled back and for that to happen, just sick.”
Venters needed some time to process a second season-ending injury but within a few weeks, he said, “You have to get on the path back.”
Venters has made considerable progress on that path. He’s building up his upper-body strength and he’s been running for about six weeks on an anti-gravity treadmill, which lightens the amount of his body weight. He’s lifting without restrictions, going through shooting drills and hoping to “go live” by the end of summer with the ultimate goal contributing to the 2025-26 Zags.
“I’m coming back for sure, no doubt about it,” Venters said matter-of-factly of his plans next season. “I just want to play basketball and I don’t have a plan B. This is where I want to be. I have no reason to leave. All the coaches have been great, support staff has been awesome and my teammates have been awesome.”
Venters, the 2023 Big Sky Conference MVP and a career 40.3% 3-point shooter, called the rehab from both injuries tough.
“I feel like the ACL (rehab) is a little worse because you have to protect the knee for so long before you can start doing stuff, whereas the Achilles you can ramp up as soon as you get strong,” he said. “I’ve been telling people I feel farther along with the Achilles at the same point as the ACL.”
Venters watched a documentary on NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who tore his Achilles in the first game of the 2023 season and missed the rest of the year.
“It was pretty interesting,” Venters said. “He had people in his house for like 10 hours. Every hour was a different time slot for people to help him rehab.”
Venters has kept an upbeat attitude and consistent work ethic. His goal is to bring positive energy and offer pointers to teammates when he sees something during a practice or game.
“I’m not tired of helping my team,” he said, “but I am tired of sitting on the bench.”
Senior forward Graham Ike can relate. He missed the 2022-23 season at Wyoming with a foot injury before deciding to transfer to Gonzaga.
“It’s so devastating,” Ike said of suffering a season-ending injury. “All I can tell him is just stay positive, just visualize his best desired outcome and put himself in the best position. I saw him Tuesday doing like 100 shoulder shrugs. He’s getting his body right, his mind right. He’s been staying positive. He’ll be back and playing better than ever.”
Venters joked that he’s become an accomplished passer after feeding teammates during pregame warmups for the past two years. He has been able to do shooting drills and work on his form.
“It’s still there, that’s for sure,” he said. “It still works.”
That was the first thing Gentry mentioned in a glowing scouting report on Venters, who averaged 16 points per game in his last two seasons at EWU.
“He can shoot it, but he’s got really good size, too, so he can get it off quick,” Gentry said. “Elite coming off screens, great footwork.
“That was something we were really excited about in pairing a ball-screen dominant guard in Ryan (Nembhard) and Nolan (Hickman) is a little bit of both. The ability to space the floor for everyone. Really heady and good feel for the game. I think what we’re going to get obviously is a super motivated, hungry player. He’s seen it all now.”
Wednesday was the two-year anniversary of the last time Venters played in a game. He drilled four 3-pointers and scored 27 points in an NIT win over Washington State before struggling in a road loss to Oklahoma State on March 19, 2023.
Put yourself in Venters’ shoes come November for Gonzaga’s season opener.
“You have no idea,” he said. “I’m itching to get back out there. Can’t wait.”