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Eli Lederman, ESPN Staff Writer
Former Stanford pitcher NiJaree Canady, the 2024 USA Collegiate Softball Player, has committed to Texas Tech out of the transfer portal and will join the Red Raiders next spring with a record-breaking name, image and likeness deal that will shake the world. of college softball, she told ESPN on Friday.
Canady entered the portal on June 17 after leading Stanford to Women’s College World Series appearances in 2023 and 2024, carrying a 0.67 ERA with 555 strikeouts in 365⅔ innings in his freshman and second seasons with the Cardinals.
His NIL deal with Texas Tech will reach seven figures per year, sources told ESPN. It was an unprecedented deal for a college softball player made by Texas Tech boosters John and Tracy Sellers.
The past two years have been amazing and thank you @StanfordSball for the ride of life. Excited for what lies ahead! @TexasTechSB pic.twitter.com/C017QT51Gp
– NiJaree Canady (@CanadyNijaree) July 24, 2024
Canady, a right-hander from Topeka, Kansas, transferred to Texas Tech with two years of eligibility remaining, and represents a monumental offseason addition for first-year coach Gerry Glasco, who was hired in Lubbock in June after seven seasons in Louisiana.
Canady’s commitment comes close to his favorite recruiting portal since the end of the 2024 softball season. The 2024 Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year confirmed he traveled to Tennessee, Alabama, UCLA and Kansas over the past month before closing with a visit to the Red Raiders this week. As of Wednesday, Canady had narrowed down his decision to return to Stanford or transfer to Texas Tech. She eventually committed to the Red Raiders before leaving Lubbock, converted by Glasco’s vision for a program that had never reached the Women’s College World Series in its history.
“I think the biggest thing for me was how many players started following him in the days and weeks after (Glasco came to Texas Tech),” Canady told ESPN. “… Some kids don’t even choose contact when they get to the portal because they know they want to follow them wherever they go.
Along with Glasco’s pitch, Canady pointed to the NIL as a factor for all transfers to consider in the modern era of college athletics and acknowledged its role in the decision-making process.
Canady’s agreement with the Red Raiders tops a six-figure offer from Stanford that would make her the highest-paid female athlete in school history, sources told ESPN. Canady also pointed to the potential opportunity at Texas Tech through a recently announced deal between the school, Adidas, and Kansas City Chiefs and former Red Raiders quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
“I can’t imagine this,” Canady told ESPN. “But I feel that we need to invest in women’s sports. We saw it in women’s basketball this year: You invest in women’s sports and women’s basketball just explodes on the national stage. I think the same thing has happened with softball. . If I even to be a small part, that’s all my dream.”
Canady is now headed to Texas Tech after leading the nation with a 0.73 ERA and 337 strikeouts in 2024, going 24-7 in the circle during his sophomore season at Stanford. Emerging as one of the top pitchers in college softball in two seasons with the Cardinals, Canady was a guiding force in taking the program to its first pair of Women’s College World Series appearances since 2004 under seventh-year coach Jessica Allister.
“These past two years at Stanford have been nothing but incredible — I mean that,” Canady said. “I love my coaches and my teammates. This has been the journey of a lifetime and I wouldn’t trade these two years for anything.”
Canady’s next challenge will be leading a Texas Tech program that has reached the NCAA tournament for just the sixth time in program history, set to navigate a Big 12 conference that is currently without a home league champion before Oklahoma and Texas in 2025. The Red Raiders close out the 2024 season with a record 29 -21 in Craig Snider, who resigned to take an assistant role at Tennessee after two seasons at Texas Tech.
Glasco came to take over the Red Raiders last month after leading Louisiana to a 45-19 record last spring, including a win over eventual national champion Oklahoma on March 3. The Ragin’ Cajuns reached the NCAA tournament for the sixth time under Glasco’s leadership, appearing as. perennial Sun Belt contenders while notching a winning percentage of .773 in seven seasons in charge.
Canady will open next spring cemented as the ace of the Red Raiders staff that is set to include four more pitchers in 2025, including transfer Chloe Riassetto, who went 11-2 with a 2.21 career ERA over two seasons in Louisiana. In all, Canady represents Texas Tech’s ninth and highest transfer addition of the offseason, a group that includes five players who followed Glasco from the Ragin’ Cajuns.
The question remains whether the Red Raiders have a roster that can make a deep NCAA tournament run in 2025. But with Canady’s seismic commitment, Texas Tech will begin 2025 with a Women’s College World Series-caliber ace in the circle and the eyes of the Softball world locked on Lubbock.
“My goal every year is to win the Women’s College World Series, that’s my goal right now,” Canady said. “I think there is a good young nucleus coming and a lot of good players from Louisiana. They are all studs and they look very good. To be able to compete in the Big 12 … I think that will be fun.”
