The 21-year-old Lukas Van Ness, once a star on Barrington High School's football team, is one of the most intriguing prospects in this year's NFL draft. He redshirted his freshman season and is leaving Iowa after playing in only 27 college games over two seasons. He has never technically started a game.
It was the summer of 2019. Those hot, muggy days when school was out and all there was to do was play football and hang out with friends.
Sanchez, who has coached the Broncos since 2002, recommended"The Power of Positive Leadership," by Jon Gordon. "That just speaks to him and the attention to detail and being just very aware of everything that he does and what kind of a ripple effect that has," Sanchez said."That's something that I also remember about him.""Immediately, when we started that season, he knew he had to step up," former Barrington safety Lucas Kozlowski said."He was more vocal than I'd ever heard him.
He moved from defensive tackle to defensive end over the offseason and proved in 2022 that he could play on the edge. He totaled 11 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks for the Hawkeyes last season. Van Ness' draft stock has skyrocketed over the last few months. There is plenty of uncertainty heading into the draft, which begins on April 27, but Van Ness is frequently being discussed as a first-round pick. Some draft analysts have him as a top 10 pick.
Pretty quickly, the position felt right. By his senior season, he was playing defensive end on defense, right guard on offense and contributing on special teams. He rarely, if ever, took a snap off. Van Ness and Skoronski would continue to duke it out in college with Van Ness at Iowa and Skoronski at Northwestern. The two know each other well and used to work out at the same training facility in the Northern suburbs.
"The scary part about recruiting is we start so early now," Ferentz said last month after Van Ness' pro day."But he changed, not dramatically, but matured since six months prior to that. We ended up offering him out of the camp. Felt really good about him." On the play in question, Van Ness had been skating over to the bench to make a line change. The opponent skated across his path. Van Ness never even saw him coming. They showed the video to the AHAI governing body, which -- much to the relief of Martins and Van Ness -- agreed that there was no malicious intent.
Days before the big matchup, the world shut down. That Friday, AHAI canceled the rest of the tournament.It was a premature end to Van Ness' hockey career, but there were bigger things ahead for him on the football field. He believes all those years on the ice made him a better football player. That weekend, Van Ness caught up with Sanchez. Lukas was a redshirt sophomore, in his third year at his dream school, and he had never technically started a game. When Sanchez spoke with Van Ness, there was no discussion of the NFL. The focus was on Iowa.The next few months changed everything. Van Ness has not only catapulted himself into the draft conversation, but he has emerged as a legitimate first-round pick.
In January, Sanchez drove to Nashville to watch the Hawkeyes take on Kentucky in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl. They met up after practice the day before the bowl game. Even then, Van Ness and his family didn't know if that would be his final college game."I know the decision didn't come lightly and they consulted a lot of different folks," said Niemann, the assistant D-line coach at Iowa."I'm sure Coach Ferentz had conversations with him along the way.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Ali Wong, Jonathan Van Ness, Anthony Jeselnik Join Just For Laughs Festival LineupThe veterans of Netflix comedy specials and scripted fare will bring their touring shows to Montreal for its 41st edition.
Read more »
NBC anchor Lesley Swick Van Ness, 42, dies while vacationing with family: ‘She was a celebrity’Lesley Swick Van Ness, who worked as an anchor for WGEM-TV as well as an executive for Gray Television was pronounced dead on Monday in Naples, Fla.
Read more »
Baseball notes: Barrington, Buffalo Grove off to solid startsConference games have begun in the Mid Suburban League along with the East Suburban Catholic Conference as nearly a third of the high school baseball season has already passed by.
Read more »
Ducks’ Lukas Dostal on World Championships: ‘Without a contract, I’m probably not going to go’The rookie goaltender made his World Championships debut for the Czech Republic last year, but the potential for an injury before securing a new deal is too risky.
Read more »
Illinois TV anchor, executive dead at 42 after becoming ill during Florida family vacation: reportLesley Van Ness, a Gray Television executive and former news anchor in Illinois, has passed away in Florida during a vacation with her family, reports say.
Read more »