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# Gonzaga’s Depth Takes Big Hit as Braeden Smith, Steele Venters Enter Transfer Portal
- URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/gonzaga-bulldogs-depth-big-hit-braeden-smith-steele-venters-portal/
- Published: 2026-04-07T20:06:25.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-08T05:53:18.000Z
- Author: Corbin Smith
- Tags: News, Analysis, Gonzaga Men's Basketball, Braeden Smith, Steele Venters

\[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="7158"\]

![  Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Steele Venters (2) shoots the ball during Numerica Kraziness in the Kennel at the McCarthey Athletic Center. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-Imagn Images  ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1d/f2/1df2f77b-83dd-4bc0-a6d2-6d1bb5df89a3/content/images/2026/10/gonzaga-bulldogs-guard-steele-venters--282-29-shoots-the-ball-during-numerica-kraziness-in-the-kennel-at-the-mccarthey-athletic-center--mandatory-credit-3a-james-snook-imagn-images-format-original-1.jpg)

Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Steele Venters (2) shoots the ball during Numerica Kraziness in the Kennel at the McCarthey Athletic Center. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-Imagn Images \[/caption\]

With the NCAA transfer portal officially opening on Tuesday, two more names from Gonzaga’s 2025-26 roster have thrown their names into the hat. Both falling out of the rotation’s favor by season’s end, Braeden Smith and Steele Venters are both headed to the portal, becoming the third and fourth Zags to do so at this point in the offseason.

Smith began the year as GU’s starting point guard before getting lapped by freshman Mario Saint-Supéry midway through the season, as the Spaniard brought more to the floor offensively and defensively. The 6-0 redshirt junior continued to get into each game, but his minutes both dwindled and became inconsistent.

Venters entered the season healthy for the first time in three years after suffering a torn ACL and Achilles, respectively, before each of the two previous seasons kicked off. The 6-7 graduate student was meant to be a sniper from the outside, and even though he shot 36.7% from the outside – the second-highest mark on the team – it wasn’t enough to make up for his deficiencies defensively, even for a Bulldogs group that was devoid of three-point shooting.

The news now leaves Gonzaga with presumably three rotation regulars from last year’s team: Saint-Supéry, Davis Fogle, and Braden Huff. With five outgoing seniors and now four players transferring, the Zags have at least five roster spots to fill when factoring in three incoming freshmen.

Spending his first two collegiate seasons at Colgate, Smith was a standout immediately, being named to the conference’s all-rookie team and a finalist for National Freshman of the Year. In his sophomore year, Smith won the 2024 Patriot League MVP after averaging 12.5 points, 5.6 assists, and 5.5 rebounds. His numbers upticked during the conference tournament, where he led Colgate to a championship and its second consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.

After transferring to Spokane, Smith redshirted for a year, getting a front-row seat to Ryan Nembhard’s record-setting season, where he averaged 9.8 assists to lead the country. This past year, the Seattle native got the opportunity to be GU’s starting point guard for the season’s entirety. He averaged 5.1 assists and 3.6 assists per contest, shooting 46.7% from the field and 33.3% from beyond the arc.

Smith started GU’s first four games of the year, but Saint-Supéry started the next nine as Smith struggled to score despite facilitating well. Re-inserted into the starting lineup for the first 14 games of WCC play, Smith was solid while Saint-Supéry dealt with the flu. But the Spaniard became a starter again on Feb. 18 against San Francisco, when Smith logged just two minutes, a game after posting seven. He didn’t start for the rest of the season, and in each of the Bulldogs’ last three games, Smith didn’t play for more than 10 minutes, not even getting a shot up in the final two.

“Thank you to Spokane, the Zag community, and especially my teammates for an experience full of great memories and lessons,” Smith wrote on an Instagram story.

He will enter the portal with one year of eligibility remaining, while Venters, on the other hand, will have to apply for extra eligibility. Similar to Tyon Grant-Foster, Venters will need to be granted an additional year after he redshirted his freshman year with Eastern Washington, coupled with his two injury redshirt years in Spokane.

Over time, Venters progressively improved in his time with the Eagles, culminating in him winning Big Sky MVP in 2023 after he scored 15.3 points a game in his final season before coming to Gonzaga. The Ellensburg, WA. native finally suited up for the Zags for the first time in 2025-26 after the back-to-back devastating injuries and got off to a hot start shooting-wise during non-conference action.

Venters made 24 of his 56 attempts from distance (42.8%) prior to WCC play, but made just 12 of his 42 (28.6%) final three-point tries. He started in 10 games for the Bulldogs, the final being on Feb. 25 versus Portland, which wound up being Venters’ final moments on the court this season. He didn’t suit up in seven of GU’s final eight games due to not being viable defensively, despite his long frame and still being one of the more threatening shooters on the roster.

Three-point precision was high on Gonzaga’s list of needs this offseason, regardless, but especially with the Venters’ news, the priority only intensifies. The same could be said for the backup point guard role, as someone who can feasibly run the Zags’ offense when Saint-Supéry isn’t on the floor will be wanted, who also provides more skill as a shot creator or shooting from the outside.