Tanner Cabaniss planned to attend Texas A&M University in the fall as a freshman engineering major.
The 2019 Lake Highlands High School graduate played summer baseball for the Dallas Mustangs, and several junior colleges scouted him and made offers. But he had his heart set on A&M.
“There were coaches calling him, but the academics were really important to him,” says his mom, Carol Cabaniss.
Coaches at Lake Highlands reached out to friends in the University of Oklahoma baseball coaching staff, and they scouted Cabaniss, but they had no room on their roster for another pitcher.
Then OU pitcher Braidyn Fink, who had been drafted by the Dodgers in the 19th round, signed with the team, opening a spot on the Sooners’ roster.
Since this is 2019, an OU coach texted Cabaniss to ask if he wanted it.
That was about two weeks ago, and classes begin Aug. 19.
Cabaniss had already registered for his classes at A&M and had a roommate.
“My biggest regret is having to bail on the guy he was going to room with,” Carol Cabaniss says. “I hate for someone to not have a roommate when you’d planned on having one.”
When we spoke last week, they still had no idea where Cabaniss would be living in Norman, Oklahoma. Since the deadline to register for classes had passed, the athletics department was pushing through his application and registration.
“He’s very grateful because there were two or three people who opened the door for him and let him have a chance,” Carol Cabaniss says. “So he’s very grateful about that.”
