Yeo Jun-seok, the rising star of Korean basketball, will leave Gonzaga University, a prestigious university basketball club in the U.S., to start a new challenge in Seattle.

The men's basketball team of Seattle University announced Friday (Korea time) that Yeo will join the team on its official website. Standing 203 centimeters tall and armed with great mobility, Yeo is considered to have the best athletic ability among Korean players.

Yeo, who entered Gonzaga University in 2023 and spent two seasons, played an average of six minutes in a total of 39 games and recorded 2.1 points and 1.0 rebounds. However, he played in 25 games in the 2023-2024 season, but showed up in only 14 games in the 2024-2025 season due to a decrease in chances to play, and only averaged 1.6 points and 0.6 rebounds. In particular, his three-point success rate was 27.3 percent, which was poor.

Gonzaga University is a powerhouse in NCAA Division I and is a prestigious program that advances to the NCAA Tournament called "March Madness" every year. In recent years, Yeo Jun-seok has been limited to bench members in a team that has maintained its top ranking in the U.S. and boasts the best power.
After falling behind in the starting lineup competition, Yeo is a fourth grader, and since next season is the last season to play in the NCAA, he seems to have found a team that can secure more playing time. Under NCAA rules, college players usually qualify for four years of play, and Yeo has limited time left, which is an important point in career decisions.

Unlike the prestigious NCAA Tournament of Gonzaga University, Seattle University has never played in the Division I tournament called "March Madness" since the 1960s, but it will be a new opportunity for Yeo to fully demonstrate his skills. Seattle University has maintained its mid-range performance by competing in the Division I Western Athletic Conference (WAC).

"Yeo Jun-seok's joining will be a great help to our team," Seattle University coach Chris Victor said on the team's website. "His physical condition and skill set are perfect for our program. We expect him to play an important role next season." 안전놀이터

Yeo Jun-seok showed outstanding potential by scoring 17 consecutive points in two warm-up matches against the Philippines in 2022. In that game, he proved his potential as a modern forward with evenly matched outside shooting, breaking through, and defense.

At the time, basketball team coach Choo Il-seung said that he would actively utilize the tall and mobile forward, but Yeo Jun-seok was dropped from the national team due to his overseas expansion. As a result, he also missed the FIBA Asia Cup in 2022, and the national team was left disappointed to be eliminated from the quarterfinals of the tournament.

Yeo Jun-seok, who left Korea and challenged for the NCAA stage, has never been selected for the national team since then. Korean basketball experts expect Yeo Jun-seok to become a key resource for Korean basketball in major international competitions such as the Asian Games and the World Cup in the future if he recovers his confidence by playing as a key player at Seattle University.

Attention is focusing on how Yeo Jun-seok's choice, ahead of his final season in the NCAA, will be a turning point in his basketball career.