Big Sky Basketball: Ranking of 25 best players from last decade (2013-23)
By Joey Loose
14. Steele Venters
The book is certainly still not fully written on Venters, but he’s had quite the career already. A 6’7 wing from Ellensburg, Washington, he stayed in-state by choosing Eastern Washington, actually arriving on campus back in 2019. He’d redshirt his first year and barely played as a freshman, but has turned into an effective weapon for the Eagles these last two seasons.
Eastern Washington made the NCAA Tournament in 2021, though Venters barely played in the game and really developed into an effective piece the following season. He’d average 16.7 points per game while hitting 43% of his outside shots in his sophomore campaign. In this most recent season, he had a career-high 33-point performance in a win over North Dakota State and put up a similar offense output, helping the Eagles to a regular season title in the Big Sky.
Venters was Second Team All-Big Sky as a sophomore with some solid shooting numbers but really cleaned up as a junior. He was recently named Big Sky Player of the Year for that great season for the Eagles, though Eastern Washington did fall short in the conference tournament. Venters has been among the leaders in field goal percentage and a few other metrics, but is already Player of the Year and has two more seasons of eligibility.