Gonzaga’s Jun Seok Yeo reportedly enters transfer portal after seeing role diminish in 2024-25
Make it two players from Gonzaga’s 2024-25 roster now in the NCAA transfer portal.
One day after sophomore guard Dusty Stromer announced intentions to transfer, junior forward Jun Seok Yeo followed his teammate into the portal, according to VerbalCommits.com.
Stromer’s decision likely raised a few more eyebrows than Yeo’s, considering the South Korea native was unable to secure a role in Gonzaga’s main rotation and watched his floor time diminish as a junior.
Yeo came off the bench 24 times and made one start in 2023-24, averaging 2.3 points and 1.2 rebounds in 6.9 minutes per game. On a deeper Gonzaga roster with more competition at the wing/forward spots, Yeo watched his playing time decrease to 4.1 mpg while his point production (1.6 ppg) and rebounding (0.6 rpg) also took hits in 14 total games played.
The Seoul native joined Gonzaga’s roster as a midseason addition during the 2022-23 season, but didn’t see the floor until 2023-24, arriving at Gonzaga with three years of eligibility.
A 6-foot-8, 218-pound forward, Yeo was a promising prospect with a college-ready frame when he arrived on campus, but faced stiff competition at his position both years, vying for minutes with the likes of Anton Watson, Ben Gregg, Michael Ajayi, Emmanuel Innocenti and others.
In 2025-26, the Zags are expected to return Innocenti and could bring back Ajayi through a waiver allowing junior college players to play an additional season. Along with those two, Yeo would have been potentially competing for rotation minutes with Steele Venters and Jalen Warley, who both sat out last year, along with incoming freshman Davis Fogle, a four-star wing from Anacortes, Washington, who played at Compass Prep (Arizona).
Yeo’s season high of 10 minutes came during a 107-55 blowout of Pepperdine this season. The forward scored a season-best eight points against UMass-Lowell during nonconference play.
He came to Gonzaga after playing at Korea University in Seoul and at the NBA Global Academy in Australia. Yeo had been on GU’s radar since starring at the 2021 FIBA U-19 World Cup in Latvia, averaging 25.6 ppg and 10.6 rpg while playing in a tournament that also featured former Zag Chet Holmgren, No. 1 overall draft pick Victor Wembanyama and a handful of other future NBA players.
With the expected departures of Stromer and Yeo, and four outgoing seniors with Ryan Nembhard, Nolan Hickman, Khalif Battle and Gregg, the Zags will have at least six open scholarships to fill entering the 2025-26 season. Ajayi and starting foward Graham Ike haven’t specificed whether they’ll use another year of eligibility and return next season.