Texas Tech star softball pitcher NiJaree Canady will make $1.2 million in a name, image and likeness deal to play for the school in 2026 after leading the team to the Women’s College World Series.

Canady is making $1 million this season in her first season with the Red Raiders. She will be on the mound Friday night when Texas Tech (54-13) meets Texas in Game 3 of the WCWS championship series. The Red Raiders are vying for their first national title.

Canady was expected to be back with Texas Tech but there were also concerns the right-hander might enter the transfer portal to see how much she is worth. But her manager, Derrick Shelby of Prestige Management Group, told ESPN on Friday that Canady has signed another deal with the Matador Club, which serves as the Red Raiders’ NIL collective.

“Nija Canady is the most electrifying player in softball. She’s box office and she goes out every day and competes,” Shelby told ESPN. “The decision to stay at Tech was not difficult. This program has taken care of her. They have showed how much she is appreciated. The entire staff, her teammates, the school in general have been great. Tonight she is playing for a national championship and she is making history. Everything she wants from this game she can get here at Texas Tech.”

Former Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes has developed a close bond with Canady. The three-time Super Bowl champion and his wife, Brittany, are in Oklahoma City attending the WCWS and cheering on the Red Raiders.

“It’s special. The way she’s able to control the softball and the way she’s able to locate in the strike zone, I mean it is special,” Mahomes told ESPN during Thursday night’s Game 2. “And to be able to watch it firsthand all season long, you know why we’re in the position that we’re in. It starts off with her and her leadership.”

Canady spent her first two college seasons at Stanford before transferring to Texas Tech. She is 34-6 with a 0.97 ERA and 317 strikeouts in 239 innings this season and also leads the squad with 11 homers.

On Friday, Canady will be looking to toss her third complete game in three days. The Red Raiders lost 2-1 in Wednesday’s Game 1 before prevailing 4-3 on Thursday.

Texas (55-12) is also on the verge of winning its first national title on Friday night.

–Field Level Media

Fresh off leading OSU to its 12th national championship last month, both Cowboys finished with 2-1-1 records at the event, which concluded on Saturday. The International side came away with a 35-25 victory over the Americans.

During Thursday’s mixed fourball action, Fang teamed with Farah O’Keefe to notch a 3-and-2 victory over Caitlyn Macnab and Daniel Bennett. Stout and Kelly Xu tied their match with Eila Galitsky and Luke Poulter.

Friday morning saw Fang and Stout paired together in a foursome match against Connor Graham and Tyler Weaver. The Cowboy duo would prevail, 3 and 1. The afternoon session saw Fang paired with O’Keefe for mixed foursomes with the duo tying its match with Weaver and Lottie Woad. 

Stout would pair with Anna Davis for the session, coming up short in a 2-and-1 loss to Carolina Chacarra and Pablo Ereno.

The event closed with singles action on Saturday with Stout taking down Charlie Forster, 3 and 2, while Fang  fell in his matchup against Justin Hastings, 2 up.

Day 1 Mixed Fourball

Farah O’Keefe/Ethan Fang def. Caitlyn Macnab/Daniel Bennett, 3&2

Preston Stout/Kelly Xu tied Eila Galitsky/Luke Poulter

Day 2 Foursomes

Ethan Fang/Preston Stout def. Connor Graham/Tyler Weaver. 3&1

Day 2 Mixed Foursomes

Ethan Fang/Farah O’Keefe tied Tyler Weaver/Lottie Woad

Carolina Chacarra/Pablo Ereno def. Preston Stout/Anna Davis, 2&1

Day 3 Singles

Preston Stout def. Charlie Forster, 3&2

Justin Hastings def. Ethan Fang, 2 up

OKLAHOMA CITY — The final game of the 2025 season was one to forget for NiJaree Canady in the Texas Tech softball team’s Game 3 loss to Texas in the championship of the Women’s College World Series.

There was no immediate reaction from Gonzaga following court approval of the landmark House vs. NCAA lawsuit settlement on Friday evening.

No statement on the Bulldogs’ website. Nothing from athletic director Chris Standiford or basketball coach Mark Few on social media. Nothing but radio silence in Spokane, where it appears victors don’t gloat.

That’s right, folks. The Zags stand to become one of the biggest winners in the post-House world, where schools can share revenue with athletes starting July 1.

And they aren’t alone. Any school that values basketball and doesn’t compete in, or care about football could create for itself a substantial advantage in the talent-acquisition process.

Allow us to explain.

The revenue-sharing component features a cap of $20.5 million in the 2025-26 competition year, with annual increases expected. The power conference schools will undoubtedly max out in order to avoid blowback in recruiting, but there’s no requirement to do so.

Each athletic department will determine how to allocate the money, but the generally-accepted breakdown in the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten and SEC will result in about $15 million devoted to football rosters, roughly $3 million to men’s basketball and the rest to Olympic sports.

Schools with rich basketball traditions (UCLA, Arizona, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina and Duke) could exceed the average within the Power Four and share $4 million-to-$5 million with their basketball players, giving them an edge relative to intra-conference peers that prioritize football.

But schools without football don’t have to feed the beast. Gonzaga could plow as much as it wants into men’s basketball ($5 million, $7 million, whatever) as long as it doesn’t exceed the cap and makes the requisite commitment to Olympic sports.

It’s no different for the Big East. Whatever cash they muster can be earmarked for basketball. (Connecticut plays football but likely will prioritize basketball to the greatest extent possible.)

What’s more, the Zags can make use of third-party resources to supplement their revenue sharing.

The House settlement does not prohibit NIL. Instead, it attempts to eliminate pay-for-play funded by booster collectives and introduce a legitimate mechanism for compensating athletes for legitimate business opportunities.

The ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC and Pac-12 — the five named defendants in the House lawsuit — have created an independent entity to track revenue sharing and enforce NIL payments. It’s called the College Sports Commission and will be led by Bryan Seeley, a former chief investigator for Major League Baseball and assistant U.S. attorney.

Athletes are required to report their contracts to ensure authenticity. If the deal is rejected, athletes can adjust the terms and resubmit or seek arbitration. Schools that allow athletes to compete with rejected deals could be subject to penalties assessed by the CSC.

Put another way: The more legitimate business opportunities available for athletes, the better.

Schools located in communities that are passionate about basketball will, in theory, have more avenues to compensate athletes with real NIL than schools in communities obsessed with football.

Combine the business opportunities in Spokane with the athletic department’s ability to disproportionately compensate its basketball team — as compared to the football-playing schools — and the Zags are extraordinarily well-positioned for the next era.

In the post-House world, it pays to not pay the football beast.

Other winners and losers from the lawsuit settlement …

Loser: The fans. Anything that increases expenses for athletic departments results in a greater burden placed on fans. Not only will direct donations be needed like never before, but constituents in the local business communities will be under pressure to provide NIL opportunities, as well.

Winner: Ed O’Bannon. The former UCLA basketball star started this decade-long economic transformation when he took the NCAA and EA Sports to court over the use of his likeness and image in a video game. His successful lawsuit led to NIL, which led to revenue sharing.

Loser: Administrative bloat. The budgetary pressures caused by $20.5 million in player compensation will cause schools to redirect all available cash. That could lead to staff downsizing and the elimination of mid-level managerial positions so pervasive in major college athletics. Expect to see fewer deputy senior assistant athletic directors for changing the water cooler.

Winner: Power Four bifurcation. It might take several years to determine the full implications of revenue sharing, but this much is immediately obvious: Schools with the deepest pockets and greatest commitment to winning will have an advantage. And those factors are absolutely not distributed equally throughout the power conferences. By the turn of the decade, it could be clear which schools covet the creation of a super league and which schools will be content downsizing their football programs.