Texas Tech star pitcher NiJaree Canady, the first softball player to land a $1 million name, image and likeness contract, has signed another seven-figure deal to return to the Red Raiders next year, a source briefed on the deal confirmed.

Canady’s deal is north of $1 million, the source said. The Wall Street Journal first reported her new deal.

About a year ago, the Matador Club, the Red Raiders NIL collective, paid Canady $1,050,024 to leave Stanford and head to Lubbock, Texas, for one year. The $24 was for Canady’s jersey number, with $50,000 for living expenses and $1 million for Canady.

The deal has paid off for the Red Raiders, who will play Texas in the winner-take-all Game 3 of the Women’s College World Series championship series Friday at 8 p.m. ET. Canady has thrown every pitch — 495 of them — for the Red Raiders in Oklahoma City and has emerged as the face of college softball. Her trademark footstomp celebration — dubbed the “Nija stomp” — has made its way to T-shirts, and Tech alum and Kansas City Chiefs superstar Patrick Mahomes was in attendance to watch her pitch in Game 2 on Thursday.

In that game, Canady stopped a Longhorns’ comeback attempt to even the WCWS and force a Game 3, stranding the potential tying run on third in a 4-3 win. The junior ace cruised through the first six innings but faltered early in the seventh. With Texas threatening in the top of the inning, having climbed back from a 4-1 hole to bring the game within a score of being tied, Canady faced hitter Kayden Henry with two outs and a runner on third. But Canady delivered three straight rise balls on the outside corner to strike out Henry and ice the game.

Canady shut down Texas for most of Wednesday’s Game 1 loss, until Texas’ Reese Atwood won it with a two-run single in the sixth inning after a gutsy swing on what was supposed to be an intentional walk. It was a series of pitches Canady called a “mistake.”

NiJaree Canady closes out the win for @TexasTechSB!

A winner-takes-all Game 3 of the Women’s College World Series awaits tomorrow night 👀

(📹: @ESPN) pic.twitter.com/eGHqLwpHSt

— MLB (@MLB) June 6, 2025

 

Canady’s 0.97 ERA is best in Division I, and her 317 strikeouts (in 239 innings) rank second.

At Stanford, Canady won USA Softball’s Collegiate Player of the Year award and led the program to two straight WCWS appearances.

If Canady leads Texas Tech to a Game 3 win, it will be her and the program’s first WCWS title. And now, she’s set to run it back in 2026.

(Photo: Brett Rojo / Imagn Images)