Chabot Baseball Star Cummings Going From Glads to Texas Longhorns

The process that ended up with Chabot College baseball star Casey Cummings committing to Texas was fast.

And the speedy Cummings loved that.

“Something that was really appealing to me is that this was the fastest that any conversation had moved with any coach I had talked to this season,” said Cummings about a phone call with Texas assistant coach Steve Rodriguez about two weeks ago. “Made me feel that they wanted me there. By the next week, they made an official offer.”

Early last week, Cummings received the scholarship offer and committed to perennial powerhouse Texas. Cummings was selected first-team all-state after a sensational 2023 season for the Gladiators. The 6-foot center fielder was tied for third in the state in home runs (17) and led Chabot in batting average (.387), stolen bases (24), slugging percentage (.820) and on-base percentage (.560).

“I don’t think I could have asked for a better season. A lot of that success came from Coach (Will) Tavis and the rest of the staff and the freedom they gave me to be who I truly was as a player on and off the field,” said Cummings, the NorCal Player of the Year and Coast-North Conference MVP.

About two-thirds of the way through Chabot’s season, Rodriguez began following Cummings on Twitter, Cummings said.

“That alone was really cool to me,” Cummings said.

At the end of May, Cummings sent an e-mail to the Texas coaching staff, along with a few other colleges.

“That was definitely a school I was interested in. I was getting recognition from Power-5 schools and it wasn’t a long shot anymore to contact bigger schools. … It was just to get on their radar,” said Cummings, who also had a 4.0 grade point average at Chabot. “When I got the e-mail back and I got Coach Rodriguez and his phone number, it was the best feeling in the world. It moved super quickly, and I loved it.”

The first phone call occurred a couple days after the e-mail was sent, and Cummings committed less than a week after that phone call.

“I gave Coach Rodriguez a call back and told him I wanted to be a Longhorn,” said Cummings, a San Ramon Valley High School graduate. “I know that it is a very historic program. … Obviously they have a number of players who made it to the league. … (Head) Coach (David) Pierce is a legend in the sport. (Assistant) Coach Woody (Williams) is a legend.”

Cummings attended Texas’ NCAA Super Regional games at Stanford on Sunday and Monday, and was able to talk to Pierce and Rodriguez on Monday. The best-of-three series ended with a heartbreaking 7-6 loss for Texas.

Cummings described Monday's game as “the best game I’ve seen in person. It was a very unfortunate way to see them end their season.”

He also noticed the difference in level of play.

“They’re definitely a lot bigger. It will be my job to get in the weight room,” Cummings said. “The level of play that they’re at is something I’ve been striving to get to.”

His decision really hit him after he announced his commitment on Twitter last weekend.

“After the post on social media, it really started to set in … It’s really cool to hear the support,” said Cummings about the outpouring from family and friends. He also said, “I’ve been really thankful for the support that the Texas fans have given.”