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Gonzaga Basketball: Jun Seok Yeo a huge x-factor for 2023-24 season

By Tristan Freeman

Feb 9, 2023; Spokane, Washington, USA; Gonzaga Bulldogs Jun Seok Yeo looks on before the second half of a game against the San Francisco Dons at McCarthey Athletic Center. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 9, 2023; Spokane, Washington, USA; Gonzaga Bulldogs Jun Seok Yeo looks on before the second half of a game against the San Francisco Dons at McCarthey Athletic Center. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-USA TODAY Sports /
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With depth being a legit issue for Gonzaga Basketball this season, they’ll need redshirt freshman Jun Seok Yeo to have a big impact off the bench.

From a roster standpoint, it’s been very interesting to see how Gonzaga Basketball has gotten to this point. They landed the trio of impact transfers in a span of one week to give them great talent at the top. But the depth has taken a hit between several outgoing transfers, a medical retirement, and a pair of freshmen commits not arriving.

That latest point is important, as two top-100 combo forwards originally committed to Gonzaga at some point this offseason. Instead, Alex Toohey is staying home and playing in the NBL in Australia, while Marcus Adams Jr. is now set to play for BYU. That leaves Eastern Washington transfer Steele Venters on the wings, along with Jun Seok Yeo.

Yeo isn’t technically a newcomer to the team since he joined Gonzaga Basketball midway through last season. The 6’8 forward comes from South Korea via the Global Academy and has been on the international radars for a while. He was the lead scorer in the 2021 FIBA U-19 World Cup for the South Korean national team, averaging 25.6 ppg and 10.6 rpg, including a 36-point effort against Japan.

Gonzaga has had plenty of success with international players before, including the last star from Asia, Japan’s Rui Hachimura. Yeo doesn’t have that same kind of hype just yet but thanks to the decisions of others, is primed to be the backup small forward on the 2023-24 roster. And that’s only because Venters is a veteran and proved D-I player compared to Yeo.

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The starting lineup for the Bulldogs won’t be an issue. But where will the bench production come from? Top-50 freshman guard Dusty Stromer will get plenty of minutes, as well as projected 6th Man, Ben Gregg. But without much guard depth overall, the WCC program can’t use many three-guard lineups. So in order for everything to work, they’re going to need Yeo to be good enough to get consistent minutes off the bench this season.