Odessa High senior wide receiver Ivan Carreon finally made it official when he signed his letter of intent to play football at the University of Oklahoma in a signing ceremony Tuesday at his house.
The 6-foot-6, 196-pound player recently finished up his final season at Odessa High and is excited to get the next part of his football career started.
“It’s awesome,” Carreon said. “I’ve been trying to get to this level since I was little, so to get here is exciting.”
Carreon had originally committed to play at Texas Tech before changing his commitment to Oklahoma this past summer.
He also received offers from Texas State, Southeast Missouri State and Texas State.
Oklahoma will be playing in the Southeastern Conference starting next fall as the Sooners will be making the switch from the Big 12 Conference this summer.
Not many athletes can play at the collegiate level and not many can play at the Division I level.
Carreon is eager to play at the Division I level.
“It feels good to be one of the only people in Odessa to do it and to reach this level means a lot,” Carreon said.
The four-star prospect said he will head up to Norman, Okla., on Jan. 13 where he will begin doing his class work and working out.
“I’m excited to meet new people and meet new teammates and be in that environment,” Carreon said.
Earlier this month, Oklahoma second-year head coach Brent Venables came down to Odessa to visit Carreon and his family.
“It was good to see him come down and come visit,” Carreon said. “He came down to get to know us more.”
As far as what his major will be, Carreon said that’s still up in the air.
“I have like two years because I have to finish my lower gen eds first, so I have time to select a major,” Carreon said.
With the departure of OU quarterback Dillon Gabriel, Carreon will be joining an OU offense that will feature a true sophomore at quarterback in Jackson Arnold
He will also be joining a Sooner offense that will be led by new co-offensive coordinators Seth Littrell and Joe Jon Finley who replace Jeff Lebby who is now the head coach at Mississippi State.
This past fall, Carreon helped Odessa High to its first winning season in years as the Bronchos finished 5-4 overall.
Despite coming up short of a playoff spot, the Bronchos defeated Permian, 49-42, in overtime this past October for the first win over the crosstown rivals since 2013.
“It’s good to finally have a winning record at OHS and set the standard for the next generation of players,” Carreon said.
Odessa High head football coach Dusty Ortiz is proud of Carreon.
“I’m super excited,” Ortiz said. “I’m excited that he has the opportunity to go play at the Division I level and in the SEC conference. With his talent that he has, he’s going to do a great job for them and it’s going to be exciting to watch for the next four years.”
Ortiz talked about all the traits that make Carreon stand out.
“First of all, he has size,” Ortiz said. “That’s something you can’t coach. When I noticed how coordinated and talented he was at catching the ball, it was neat to see him progress. He was already at a high level, but he progressed a lot over the next three years. He played on both sides of the ball this year and did a great job and I know he’ll do a good job at Oklahoma.”
