On November 30, 2022, Ivan Carreon committed to Emmett Jones.
Exactly seven months later, Carreon committed to Emmett Jones again, this time for good.
After announcing Thursday night that he’d reneged on his long-standing pledge to Texas Tech, the four-star wideout and Odessa native officially became the 11th member of Oklahoma’s 2024 recruiting class on Friday afternoon. Meanwhile, Jones, who’s only been on the job at Oklahoma since January, has his fourth receiver commit of the brief cycle.
Carreon joins Dozie Ezukanma, Zion Kearney and KJ Daniels in a quartet of 2024 pass-catchers who intend to play for Jones and the Sooners. Shortly after going public with his commitment, the West Texas superstar broke down all the factors that led to his decision with OUInsider.
“I would say it was Coach Jones — and Coach Venables,” Carreon remarked. “As soon as I got the offer, they were showing love. They’re great coaches, and the program OU has is already really good. The way all the coaches are, how much they want to win — they’re competitive at everything they do.”
Earlier this month, Carreon took official visits to Texas Tech (June 9-11) and Purdue (June 23-25), but sandwiched in between those trips was the visit that ultimately sold him on his ultimate destination. Less than two weeks after he initially earned the Oklahoma offer at a Brent Venables camp, he arrived to Norman for an official visit with the Sooners on June 16, and he knew midway through the visit that he wanted to wear the crimson and cream.
“I would say probably at the OV, when we were sitting and having a positional meeting with Coach Jones,” Carreon said. “I seen how he was teaching all the wide receivers different techniques and showing us what they did wrong, and how he corrected it. That was probably when I seen that I wanted to go to Oklahoma.”
Though the courtship officially lasted less than four weeks between offer and commitment, Oklahoma had naturally been on Carreon’s radar for quite some time. When Jones left Texas Tech to take the vacant receivers coach job at OU, he very quickly reached out to Carreon on behalf of his new employer.
“I wouldn’t say it was that long after he had moved that he texted me, saying he was working on [a plan] for me to be there,” said Carreon. “He’s obviously one of the best coaches in the nation [for] wide receiver. I like how he’s going to push you to your limits. He’s going to know all your strengths and weaknesses, and he’s going to perfect them — try to make you the best player that he can.”
At 6-foot-6 and 205 pounds, Carreon is a daunting matchup for any opposing defensive back. His size and remarkable athleticism have helped him log back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons for Odessa High, and it’s also led to a natural question amongst the Sooner fanbase: will a player of his stature play receiver or tight end at the next level?
“As far as I talked to them, it was playing anywhere on the field, wherever I’m needed,” Carreon explained. “Sometimes I climb up in the slot, mismatch, play out wide, and sometimes I can play tight end a little bit.”
Carreon is regarded as a consensus four-star prospect across the industry, and Rivals ranks him as the No. 28 wide receiver in the nation. He’s the sixth blue-chip commit of the class for Oklahoma, and he’s already building strong relationships with his future teammates in crimson as Oklahoma aims to secure another elite recruiting class.
“We talked a lot at the OV,” Carreon recalled. “It was good; our bond that we got is pretty good. We all talked about everything and how they feel about the school, and even when I got to hang out with some of the players that were already there, they talked very highly of Coach Jones and how he’s helped all of them in their journey.”
As excited as he was to learn under Jones’ tutelage, one aspect of the process remained a particularly difficult obstacle for Carreon, and that was the inevitable phone call to the Texas Tech staff to inform them of his decommitment.
“It was hard,” he admitted. “It was really hard. I didn’t want to do it. But I knew it was best for me, and what I wanted. Because OU’s been one of my dream schools ever since I’ve been growing up. So it was tough, especially with Coach McGuire. I love Coach McGuire, He’s a good guy, and I wish nothing but the best for him.”
Despite his brief reticence to share the bad news with the school that had given him his first Power 5 offer, Carreon can now focus solely on his future as a Sooner. And though it’s nearly seven hours on the road to Norman from his hometown in west Texas, Carreon is fully comfortable in his surroundings at OU. In fact, he sees plenty of parallels between Odessa and Oklahoma.
“The people from where I’m from and [the people] in Norman ain’t that much different,” he observed. “I feel like there’s a bunch of support there for all the players, and I have a lot of people back home that’ll support me regardless of where I go.”
As for his mission at Oklahoma, Carreon looks forward to the challenge of playing in the country’s most talented football conference, and he’s eager to help the Sooners reach the pinnacle.
“I want to go win an SEC championship,” he proclaimed. “Being able to go play against the top competition in college football, I can go show everybody what I can do against the best. I want to go help them succeed as a program, and I just want to be the best I can be over there.”
