Ivana Krajina

 

Ivana Krajina, as a young girl in the sixth grade in Bosnia and Herzegovina, had a dream of going to the United States to play basketball. Now she is living that dream.

 

Ivana completed her high school education, and by doing so, she soon got her chance to continue pursuing her dream. She signed with Odessa College to play on the Women’s Basketball Team and moved to West Texas to continue her studies and play basketball under the leadership of Franqua “Coach Q” Bedell. For Ivana an added benefit has been that her cousin who came to the United States and she admired so much, is the team’s assistant coach, Marija Pacar.

 

She has adjusted to her life as an international student in West Texas, although it took a while to adapt to the “dry, dusty air and the water and the fast food – everyone eats so many hamburgers and French fries. I come from the mountains with fresh, clean air, and we drink our clear tap water.”

 

“Also here, the people are so friendly and helpful and very talkative. At first, I didn’t like that because it’s very different from how the people are in my country, but now I understand that the people here really care about you.” With a big smile on her face, she added, “I’ve changed to being friendly and talkative, too, and I like it.”

 

In her brief two years at Odessa College, Ivana has proven to be successful athletically and academically. She was named to the 2023-24 NJCAA D1 Women’s Basketball All-American Team. As a sophomore guard, she was named First Team All-American. Ivana was also the Western Junior College Athletic Conference Player of the Year and named to the All-Region 5 Team.

 

In May 2024, the young student athlete will graduate Summa Cum Laude with a 4.0 GPA and her Associate Degree in General Studies. Ivana recently accepted an offer from Texas Tech University to play for their women’s basketball team and to continue her education at the university. She plans to major in Computer Science.