Jonathan Van Diest

Wyoming

Sep 20 (Sat)

8:15 p.m.

Photo by: Tony Harman

Photo by: Derek Marckel

Position:
Inside Linebacker
Height:
6-1
Weight:
230
Class:
Junior
Hometown:
Louisville, Colo.
High School:
Cherry Creek

AT COLORADO: Has seen action in 24 career games with seven starts … Has 21 career tackles, including one sack and one tackle for loss, three quarterback hurries, two third down stops and a forced fumble.
2020 (Jr.)—Played in all six games with two starts, at Arizona and in the Alamo Bowl against Texas … Played five of the six games on defense and all six on special teams … Finished the season with 81 snaps in the five regular season games with 11 tackles, including one for no gain, and one quarterback hurry … A majority of those snaps came in the second half of the season and he responded with five tackles and a tackle for zero at Arizona and six tackles and a quarterback hurry against Utah … Also credited with five tackles against Texas in the Alamo Bowl … Named to the Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll and to the Academic All-Colorado Team by the state's chapter of the National Football Foundation.
2019 (Soph.)—Played in all 12 games for the Buffs, the first six on offense and in 10 games on special teams … He started the first five games on defense, in all playing in 174 snaps with 19 tackles, including one sack, and also had one forced fumble, one quarterback pressure and one third down stop … The sack, forced fumble and third down stop came on the same play, when his forced fumble was picked up by Mustafa Johnson and returned for a touchdown against Colorado State in the season opener … On special teams he played on the kick coverage team primarily but also saw action on field goal block and punt return … He had four tackles and a quarterback hurry against Air Force … Added six tackles at Arizona State … He tied for the team lead in two scrimmages and the spring game with 21 tackles, which included two tackles for loss with one sack, and two third down stops … In the first scrimmage, he led the defense with eight tackles.
2018 (Fr.-RS)—Named to the Colorado Chapter of the National Football Foundation All-Academic first-team … Played in six games and dressed for all 12 … Played two games on defense, totaling 23 snaps ... Had two tackles, one quarterback pressure and one third down stop.
2017 (Fr.)—Redshirted; he did dress for five of the first six contests of the season … In practice on Nov. 8 he tore his ACL in his left knee; had surgery on Nov. 17 to repair the ligament.

HIGH SCHOOL—Scout.com rated him as the No. 1 outside linebacker prospect in Colorado and the No. 8 overall in the west ... He was selected to play in the 2017 Under Armour All-American Game in Orlando ... Was one of three finalists for the 2016 Denver Post Gold Helmet Award, which is presented to the state’s player of the year and was a two-time first-team Colorado Class 5A All-State selection … Earned All-Colorado honors from the Mile High Sports Magazine and the Denver Post and was selected to the Tacoma News-Tribune’s Western 100 team ... Set a new Cherry Creek record that dated back to 1955 with his 50 varsity starts during his four-year prep career … Finished with 38 career sacks, which tied for second all-time with former Denver South star and current Jacksonville Jaguars lineman Calais Campbell ... Playing under coach Dave Logan, a former Buffalo, he led his team to the Centennial League title as a senior when he had 74 tackles and 6.5 tackles for a loss … He was the Centennial League Defensive MVP that season ... His junior year he posted 60 tackles with 10.5 sacks and one interception in a 10-3 season … As a sophomore he posted 62 tackles and 11 sacks during the Bruins’ Class 5A title run … He intercepted Valor Christian quarterback Dylan McCaffrey in the championship game to seal the victory ... He was a first-team All-Centennial League selection that year, the first of three times he earned the honor … He had 38 tackles his freshman year with 6.5 sacks while claiming the league championship … Over the course of his high school career his teams posted a 40-12 record … Prior to high school he played with fellow Buff signees Jake Moretti and Dante Sparaco on Team Colorado at the 2013 FBU National Championship, which is a 64-team single elimination national football tournament with sixth, seventh and eighth-grade brackets, culminating with Championship Weekend in Naples, Fla. … He wrestled as a freshman.

ACADEMICS—He graduated with a degree in Management from Colorado's Leeds School of Business and is pursing a master's in Supply Chain Management … He has twice been named to both the Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll and the Colorado Chapter of the National Football Foundation Academic All-Colorado first team … He owned a 4.1 GPA in high school (4.0 scale) and was a Colorado Chapter NFF Scholar-Athlete … He was named CU's Academic Student-Athlete-of-the-Month for March 2020.

PERSONAL—He was born on August 26, 1998 in Louisville, Colo. … In high school he was a Young Life vice president, and in his free time he enjoys volunteering at Mile High Workshop, which helps employ ex-felons and addicts. (Last name rhymes with east)