OLB Devan Van Ness Accepts 2024 PWO Offer from Iowa
Iowa added a ninth member to its 2024 PWO class on Friday afternoon, as OLB Devan Van Ness of Barrington, Illinois announced his commitment to the Hawkeyes.
"I'm honored to announce my commitment to play football at the University of Iowa," Van Ness' social media statement reads. "I want to thank my family, friends and teammates for their support throughout this journey. I want to give a special thanks to Coach Sanchez, and the entire Barrington Football Staff for their dedication and help to better me on, and off the field. Also, a special thanks to Kerry Neal and Mike Buchanan for refining my technique. Lastly, Coach Wallace and The Iowa Football Staff for believing in me and giving me an amazing opportunity. Excited to get to work."
Van Ness is the younger brother of former Hawkeye defensive lineman and 2023 NFL first-round draft pick Lukas Van Ness, who took the opportunity to shout out his brother upon his commitment:
Devan Van Ness was tremendously productive in the final year of his Barrington career, racking up 78 tackles with 30(!) tackles-for-loss, including 16 sacks. Van Ness was named first-team All-State in Class 8A — Illinois' largest classification — and an All-Area Defensive Player of the Year for his efforts.
Despite the giant numbers in 2023, Van Ness' only scholarship offer to date has come from FCS Butler; his stats were rather pedestrian as a junior (40 tackles, 5 TFL, 2 sacks) and at 6'1" and 195 pounds, many schools will simply write him off as too small to be a high-level edge rusher.
In that sense, then, Devan's most likely roadmap for success in Iowa's PWO program won't look like Lukas' fast-tracked path to the NFL, but more closely resembles that of Joe Evans, who also came to Iowa as an undersized walk-on at linebacker (listed at 6'3" and 210, generously) before developing into the terrifying edge rusher and leader of the defense that Hawkeye fans know him as today.
Van Ness is currently the ninth committed member of Iowa's 2024 PWO class, joining Tripp Woody, Kyler Gerardy, Drew Larson, Grant Glausser, Graham Eben, Trent Cakerice, Cole Marsh and DJ Vonnahme in Iowa's 2024 class. The scholarship recruiting class currently has 20 scholarship commits as well.
Expect more PWO commitments for the Hawkeyes in the coming days and weeks as the early Signing Day approaches on December 20, and Go Iowa Awesome will bring you all the latest on these prospects as they begin their Hawkeye careers alongside their scholarship teammates.