OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Texas Tech pitcher NiJaree Canady has signed another $1 million-plus NIL deal, a person with knowledge of the agreement told The Associated Press on Friday.

The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the situation publicly.

ESPN first reported the deal.

“I’m thrilled that a player of the caliber of NiJa Canady can take advantage of her success and her hard work that she’s given to the sport and given to the school that she’s at,” Texas Tech coach Gerry Glasco said after Texas claimed the national title with a 10-4 win over the Red Raiders in the decisive Game 3 of the championship series on Friday night.

News of the name, image and likeness deal broke hours before Canady was set to pitch in the final game. She lasted one inning and gave up five runs on five hits.

Texas pitcher NiJaree Canady throws during the third game of the NCAA softball Women’s College World Series finals against Texas in Oklahoma City, Friday, June 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)

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Canady signed a similar deal with Texas Tech last year after she had led Stanford to the World Series semifinals two straight years. She didn’t directly address either deal, but noted that her success has come with some negative attention as the sport has grown.

“I feel like more eyes are on the sport,” she said, “Of course, that comes with positives and negatives. There’s always like, negative attention that comes with it. But I feel like for the whole and just growing the sport and just giving younger girls something to look up to — it means a lot.”

Despite the rough finish, she led the nation in wins with 34 and threw every pitch in Tech’s first five World Series games. Glasco said her success and the exposure she has brought the school has made it all worthwhile.

“I’m not an expert,” Glasco said. “ Somebody could really do an in-depth study. But I have no doubt it (the first deal) would exceed a million dollars of value. I think it was of great value for our school.”

Glasco said there has been too much negative attention brought to the money Canady has earned.

“I found it almost insulting to her at times when I listened to broadcasts how much they talked about it because, like I said, I don’t hear it when we talk about — when we watch a men’s basketball game or a men’s football game, and to me that’s not right,” Glasco said. “That shouldn’t be that way.”

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OKLAHOMA CITY — Finally, Texas has broken through.

Mia Scott hit a grand slam, Teagan Kavan won again and Texas defeated Texas Tech 10-4 in Game 3 of the Women’s College World Series championship series on Friday night to claim its first national title.

Texas had lost to Oklahoma in the championship series two of the previous three years. Oklahoma was one of the teams Texas beat on its way to the championship. And Texas coach Mike White finally won in his ninth World Series trip between his coaching stints at Oregon and Texas.

“I’m still trying to process the whole thing,” White said. “Actually, it’s something you dream about.”

Kavan, a sophomore, allowed no earned runs in all 31⅔ innings she pitched at the World Series. She went 4-0 with a save in the World Series for the Longhorns and was named Most Outstanding Player.

She was happy to win it for White in the Longhorns’ first year playing in the SEC.

“Without Coach White, I don’t know if we’re here,” she said. “He’s the best. He’s so competitive. He wants it just as bad as we do, of course. And he pushes us to be better every day. He makes me a better pitcher mentally and physically. And so there’s no one else I’d rather play for. He’s the bomb, and I’m glad we got it done for him.”

Leighann Goode hit a 3-run homer, Kayden Henry had three hits, and Scott, Reese Atwood and Katie Stewart each had two hits for Texas (56-12).

Texas Tech star pitcher NiJaree Canady, who had thrown every pitch for the Red Raiders through their first five World Series games, was pulled after one inning in Game 3. The two-time National Fastpitch Coaches Association Pitcher of the Year gave up five runs on five hits and threw only 25 pitches. She had thrown 686 consecutive pitches dating to the start of super regionals before exiting.

The loss came after she signed an NIL deal worth more than $1 million for the second straight year.

Not even support from former Texas Tech football star Patrick Mahomes and his wife, Brittany, who were in attendance, could put the Red Raiders (54-14) over the top.

Canady’s night started like many of her others, as she struck out the first batter she faced. After that, she didn’t resemble the pitcher who entered the game leading the nation in wins and ERA. Goode’s homer in the first put the Longhorns up 5-0.

Texas Tech coach Gerry Glasco said he was pleased with Canady’s effort throughout the season, but he pushed her a bit too far.

“If I had a game in two days, that’s who I want beside me to go to war with,” he said. “She’s an unbelievable talent.”

Scott’s blast came in the fourth inning and gave Texas a 10-0 lead.

Hailey Toney was a bright spot for the Red Raiders. She singled to knock in two runs in the fifth, then singled to knock in another run in the seventh.

It was a surprise run for the Red Raiders. Glasco left Louisiana to coach at Texas Tech this season. The team had only three returning players and had to mix a group of newcomers together.

It won the Big 12 regular-season and tournament titles and reached the World Series for the first time.

“To end up in this position, playing for the national title, making it go all the way to three games — just a historic season, and I’m really proud of my team and the effort that they give us from top to bottom,” Glasco said.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

The playing field when it comes to earning NIL dollars might be swaying in favor of the Illinois football program.

In the current iteration of Name, Image, and Likeness, it is essentially that whoever has a rich donor base can bring in the most NIL dollars. With the second installment of the college football game, College Football 26, teams like the Illini have a chance to chip away at trying to equal the playing field.

In an article by Matt Liberman of Cllct, he published the payout tiers for the College Football 25 game that came out last season. Those tiers are now gone. That was just the plan on how to pay the programs in the first season of the game.

College Football 26 is going by a play-and-pay setup. According to the article, all programs in the FBS have opted in, and each team will receive NIL money based on the number of times that team is played in the game.

The article lays out in more detail a scenario that could play out. In Layman’s terms, the more people play with a team, the more money that team receives. This means that Illinois football fans literally have potential NIL dollars in the palm of their hands.

Liberman also mentions in the article that the game’s creators haven’t explained how they are tracking the number of times a team is used, but that they do have the ability to track that now.

Friday’s approval of the House settlement is expected to usher in an imminent overhaul to how college sports work.

One of the most prominent changes came together quickly, as Major League Baseball executive Bryan Seeley was named CEO of the new College Sports Commission on Friday night. Sources told ESPN that Seeley has been the target for the role for weeks, and the long-awaited formalization of the House settlement triggered his hire.

Sources told ESPN that Seeley is expected to make seven figures in the new role, as he’ll quickly become one of the most prominent figures in college sports.

Seeley is MLB’s executive vice president, legal & operations, and he brings investigative experience, which will be key in this role. In the post-settlement era, the NCAA will no longer be in charge of the enforcement of most rules. (It will still maintain purview over things like academics, but it will not patrol benefits.)

The CSC is the new era’s enforcement arm that will have final say in doling out punishments and deciding when rules have been broken. It’s one of the most important roles in this new era, as the industry has been craving some type of guidance since the advent of name, imagine and likeness has made the descriptor “wild, wild west” a common one in regard to the generally unregulated college sports industry.

In a formal announcement, Seeley’s job is described as having to “build out the organization’s investigative and enforcement teams and oversee all of its ongoing operations and stakeholder relationships.” Per the release: “Seeley and his team will also be responsible for enforcement of the new rules around revenue sharing, student-athlete third-party name image and likeness (NIL) deals, and roster limits.”

Seeley was hired by the four power conference commissioners — the ACC’s Jim Phillips, Big Ten’s Tony Petitti, Big 12’s Brett Yormark and SEC’s Greg Sankey. They released a joint statement on his hire: “Bryan brings unwavering integrity and a wealth of relevant experience to his new role leading the College Sports Commission and working to ensure a smooth implementation of this new system. We’re grateful to have an individual with his credentials and expertise at the helm, and we look forward to his leadership as we transition into this new era of college sports.”

In Seeley, college sports will be getting a seasoned investigator with experience in both the private sector and professional sports. It’s the type of background the commissioners sought in their search for the role.

Following Seeley’s graduation from Harvard Law School, he served as an assistant U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., prosecuting federal white-collar fraud and public corruption cases as well as local violent crime.

MLB hired Seeley to take over its Department of Investigations in 2014. The department has a wide swath of responsibilities, including cases pertaining to domestic violence, performance-enhancing drugs and age fraud. Seven years ago, Seeley added compliance and security to his management portfolio, and he ascended to executive vice president in 2022. Over his decade-plus at MLB, Seeley earned a reputation as a strong and competent manager whose department, which had let go of three employees following allegations of unethical behavior, consistently delivered solid work.

“Bryan is an exceptional choice to lead the College Sports Commission,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “During his time at MLB, Bryan demonstrated unparalleled integrity, a commitment to fairness, and the ability to navigate complex challenges with precision and care. I have no doubt he will bring the same level of excellence to the College Sports Commission. College sports will greatly benefit from Bryan’s expertise and vision.”

In March, Purdue athletic director Mike Bobinski summed up the role of enforcement in the new era as having to be more efficient and punitive than when the NCAA was in charge of enforcement.

“We’ve screwed this thing up now to the point where we have to be willing to draw a line in the sand, and that will create some pain,” Bobinski told ESPN then. “There’s no two ways about it, and we’ll find out who’s just going to insist on stepping over the line. But if they do, you got to deal with it forcefully and quickly.”

The new era will not be without its complications. The CEO is in charge of running the systems that have been put into place by the commissioners — LBi Software and accounting firm Deloitte have been lined up to handle salary cap management and to manage the clearinghouse for NIL. Those NIL deals will be outside of the revenue share directly from schools, and how they are approved has been the focus of much conversation around college sports.

The clearinghouse that Deloitte has established will be known as NIL Go, which will be used to verify whether deals between athletes and boosters or associated entities are for a valid business purpose rather than a recruiting incentive. It’s described as a new technology platform that will be in place to assure that athletes’ NIL deals are in compliance with the rules.

According to information distributed at recent spring meetings, for example, investigations into athlete deals under the CSC are recommended to be resolved in 45 days. That’s a distinct shift from the ponderous NCAA process.

According to sources, the association documents being circulated for schools to sign to enter the new era detail the CEO’s role as making “final factual findings and determinations” on violations of rules. The CEO also will “impose such fines, penalties or other sanctions as appropriate” in accordance with the rules.