NiJaree Canady Inks Historic $1M NIL Deal to Transfer From Stanford to Texas Tech

In what may be one of the biggest transfer portal surprises in the young history of the portal, Stanford pitcher NiJaree Canady has transferred to Texas Tech.

The National Player of the Year this past season took to social media to announce her commitment to Texas Tech on Wednesday, a move that has stunned the college softball world. She was expected to land at one of the softball powers like Texas or Oklahoma, which has won the past four titles, or even make a return to Stanford, where she led the nation in each of her two years with a 0.57 as a freshman and a 0.65 as a sophomore.

Instead, she ended up transferring to a program that has never made the Women's College World Series and has had just six tournament berths in its program's history.

According to a report by The Athletic , she received a one-year deal worth $1,050,024 with Texas Tech’s collective Matador Club for signing with the Red Raiders. For reference, the previous highest NIL deal for a pitcher was $175,000.

In her two seasons in Palo Alto, she helped the Cardinal make two consecutive Women’s College World Series appearances, which was their first appearance since 2004. She led the country in strikeouts this past year with 337 strikeouts in 230.2 innings and has even been tabbed as the "Caitlin Clark of softball" by softball legend Monica Abbott.

“I don’t know—can NiJa be the Caitlin Clark of softball? I kind of believe she can," Abbot told The Athletic back in May.

Canady will headline an elite transfer class for first-year Red Raiders coach Gerry Glasco, who took the job after going 300-88 with four Sun Belt Conference tournament titles during his time at Louisiana. As for Stanford, they will have to replace one of the best talents that college softball has ever seen.