Wisconsin Basketball Showing Interest in Eastern Washington Transfer

Madison, Wis. —  Greg Gard and the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball program have contacted a dominant and intriguing wing from the Big Sky Conference. 

On Sunday, The Portal Report mentioned that Wisconsin was one of the teams that expressed interest in Eastern Washington wing/forward Steele Venters, who recently entered the transfer portal. 

“I felt it’s best for me to get to the next level,” Venters said. “I want a new challenge and a new setting.”

Along with UW, Venters has heard from Gonzaga, Missouri, Butler, Creighton, USF, Colorado, Washington, UNLV, Santa Clara, Pepperdine, Colorado State, Loyola Marymount, Oregon, Florida, Washington State, USC, Stanford, Nebraska, plus several other schools. 

The 6-foot-7, 175-pound small forward was a first-team All-Big Sky Conference member this past season, averaging 15.3 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.5 assists on 45.7% shooting from the field in just over 31 minutes per game for the Eagles.

It’s also worth noting that Venters is a career 40% three-point shooter and won the Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year award in 2022-23. 

Venters started 67 of the 84 games he appeared in at Eastern Washington and will have up to two years of eligibility remaining. 

Why Steele Venters Makes Sense for Wisconsin Basketball 

Greg Gard knows that the Wisconsin men’s basketball needs some size on the wing that can knock down threes and add some scoring entering next season. And to put it simply, Steele Venters offers all of that and then some.

Venters finished last season with an impressive 107.2 ORTG and a 2.5 PRPG, per Barttorvik, which would have been third on the Badgers this past season.

Finding a way to bring the 6-foot-7 stretch forward to Madison will be a tall order because of the number of programs showing interest. That said, from a systematic standpoint, he’s everything the Badgers want/need to fix their offense and vault themselves back into contention next season.

Regardless of Wisconsin basketball being a real player in his recruitment, this shows that UW will remain aggressive on the transfer market in pursuit of an upgrade in talent.

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