Barrington’s Lukas Van Ness commits to Iowa

A whirlwind spring for Barrington’s Lukas Van Ness continued Sunday when the senior defensive end gave an oral commitment to play at Iowa.

Van Ness, a 6-foot-5, 240-pounder, wasn’t among the state’s top-ranked players in the Class of 2020 until he turned some heads at various camps.

He’s currently No. 18 in the state according to Rivals and No. 24 in the 247Sports rankings.

“I want to thank my family, friends and teammates for their support in this journey,” Van Ness said in announcing his commitment on Twitter. “I also want to give a special thank you to coach (Joe) Sanchez and the entire Barrington football coaching staff for their unwavering support.”

Van Ness had 31 offers, including from Illinois and Minnesota in the Big Ten and from Kansas and Kansas State in the Big 12. Demonstrating his success in the classroom, he also had six Ivy League offers: Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton and Yale.

He’s the Hawkeyes’ fifth recruit from Illinois in the Class of 2020, and the second from the Chicago area, joining Richards running back Leshon Williams.