[1][2] He was rated a three-star recruit and committed to play college football at Iowa over offers from Illinois, Minnesota, and Kansas.

[5] At the end of the season, Van Ness was named a Freshman All-American by the Football Writers Association of America.

[6] During his redshirt sophomore season, he was named the Big Ten Conference Special Teams Player of the Week after blocking two kicks in a 10–7 loss to Iowa State.

The Packers initially held the 15th selection in the draft before trading up two spots with the New York Jets to move up to 13th.

[13] He saw his first NFL action on September 10, 2023, against the Chicago Bears, recording his first career sack on Justin Fields during a 38–20 win.