Gonzaga’s Depth Takes Big Hit as Braeden Smith, Steele Venters Enter Transfer Portal

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.