In the new landscape of college athletics where the transfer portal and name, image and likeness rule the day, it has become commonplace for athletes to change schools, then meet up with their previous teammates down the road.

Ahead of Sunday’s selection show for the 2025 NCAA softball tournament, the prevailing thought from bracketologists was that it would be Texas Tech’s NiJaree Canady who would see her old team. It had all the makings to be the most noteworthy story for the opening round. Putting Stanford — which can’t host a regional due to construction at its stadium — in the Lubbock Regional is stuff that broadcast partners like ESPN, reporters and fans all salivate over.

When the Red Raiders were revealed as the No. 12 overall seed, though, it wasn’t Canady who got the “oohs” from her teammates. It was Alana Johnson, the first team all-Big 12 outfielder, who got a few extra smiles, hugs and pats on the back.

That’s because Johnson’s former school, Washington, will be headed to Rocky Johnson Field along with Brown and Mississippi State this weekend.

“Obviously I have lots of love and respect for that program, Coach (Heather) Tarr and just everybody that’s there still,” Johnson said. “I started out there and I grew a lot as a person and a player there. Just super amount of respect for that program and that staff. Just super excited to get to see some of my old teammates that are still there and get to compete.”

The Huskies were the last team included in the tournament field, according to the selection committee.

Texas Tech will be hosting a regional for the first time in program history, another feather in the cap of Gerry Glasco’s team in his first year as head coach. The Red Raiders capped off a near perfect run through the Big 12 when they won all three games of the conference tournament via shutout — much of it due to Canady, who earned most outstanding player and a nifty WWE-style belt/trophy for her exploits in Oklahoma City.

“To see it come true here in our first year,” Glasco said, “it’s just overwhelming to get to host a regional. The number one goal here is to build a program that develops passionate fans and develop the fan base that’ll be fun for the players to be able to play in front of for years to come. I think it’s a huge step.”

By earning the No. 12 national seed, Texas Tech’s region is matched up with the Tallahassee Regional, which consists of 5th-overall seed Florida State, Auburn, South Florida and Robert Morris. FSU winning its regional would ensure the winner of the Lubbock Regional heading to Tallahassee for the Super Regional next week.

While the Red Raiders will take on Brown in the first round, they’ll see either Johnson’s former Washington team or get a rematch with SEC foe Mississippi State, which beat Texas Tech 3-1 in the second game of the season at the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Clearwater, Florida, on Saturday. That game went eight innings, and Glasco said both teams are very different from that first matchup.

“The girls worked really, really, really hard since the fall,” Glasco said, “and they’ve improved in so many ways. Up and down the lineup, in the bullpen, everybody’s peaking. We’re healthy. I think we’re just going into this regional absolutely cooking and we’re hitting on all cylinders, as my dad would say. Just really pumped.”

Lauren Allred — a second team all-Big 12 selection, who followed Glasco from Louisiana — and Johnson said the Red Raiders have worked steadily to get to this point.

“I think the biggest thing is growing,” Allred said. “We continue to grow. We never were satisfied even when we were in a good spot. We continue to strive to do better and I think we’re starting to peak at the right time.”

Getting to host a regional at all was the main goal for the Red Raiders, Glasco said. Fans have gravitated toward Texas Tech this year, breaking numerous attendance records during the historic season, and he’s excited to see the turnout for this weekend’s festivities.

“We had to get this regional here to get the fans out to get to see the athleticism and the talent that our team has,” Glasco said. “There’s no doubt in my mind that once the community comes out and they see the talent in the girls, the way they play, with speed, with hustle that we’re going to have, it’s going to be a building moment for our program and take it to heights that has never been seen.”

2025 NCAA Softball Tournament: Lubbock Regional

Games Friday-Sunday at Rocky Johnson Field

All times Central

FRIDAY

Game 1 — (12) Texas Tech (45-12) vs. Brown (33-15), 4:30 p.m. (ESPN+)

Game 2 — Washington (34-17) vs. Mississippi State (37-17), 7 p.m. (ESPN2)

SATURDAY

Game 3 — Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2, 1 p.m. (TV TBD)

Game 4 — Lower of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2, 3:30 p.m. (TV TBD)

Game 5 — Loser of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4, 6 p.m. (TV TBD)

SUNDAY

Game 6 — Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 5, 2 p.m. (TV TBD)

Game 7 — If necessary, 4:30 p.m., (TV TBD)

Link

In the new landscape of college athletics where the transfer portal and name, image and likeness rule the day, it has become commonplace for athletes to change schools, then meet up with their previous teammates down the road.Ahead of Sunday’s selection show for the 2025 NCAA softball tournament, the prevailing thought from bracketologists was that it would be Texas Tech’s NiJaree Canady who would see her old team. It had all the makings to be the most noteworthy story for the opening round. Putting Stanford — which can’t host a regional due to construction at its stadium — in the Lubbock Regional is stuff that broadcast partners like ESPN, reporters and fans all salivate over.

When the Red Raiders were revealed as the No. 12 overall seed, though, it wasn’t Canady who got the “oohs” from her teammates. It was Alana Johnson, the first team all-Big 12 outfielder, who got a few extra smiles, hugs and pats on the back.

That’s because Johnson’s former school, Washington, will be headed to Rocky Johnson Field along with Brown and Mississippi State this weekend.

“Obviously I have lots of love and respect for that program, Coach (Heather) Tarr and just everybody that’s there still,” Johnson said. “I started out there and I grew a lot as a person and a player there. Just super amount of respect for that program and that staff. Just super excited to get to see some of my old teammates that are still there and get to compete.”

The Huskies were the last team included in the tournament field, according to the selection committee.

Texas Tech will be hosting a regional for the first time in program history, another feather in the cap of Gerry Glasco’s team in his first year as head coach. The Red Raiders capped off a near perfect run through the Big 12 when they won all three games of the conference tournament via shutout — much of it due to Canady, who earned most outstanding player and a nifty WWE-style belt/trophy for her exploits in Oklahoma City.

“To see it come true here in our first year,” Glasco said, “it’s just overwhelming to get to host a regional. The number one goal here is to build a program that develops passionate fans and develop the fan base that’ll be fun for the players to be able to play in front of for years to come. I think it’s a huge step.”By earning the No. 12 national seed, Texas Tech’s region is matched up with the Tallahassee Regional, which consists of 5th-overall seed Florida State, Auburn, South Florida and Robert Morris. FSU winning its regional would ensure the winner of the Lubbock Regional heading to Tallahassee for the Super Regional next week.While the Red Raiders will take on Brown in the first round, they’ll see either Johnson’s former Washington team or get a rematch with SEC foe Mississippi State, which beat Texas Tech 3-1 in the second game of the season at the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Clearwater, Florida, on Saturday. That game went eight innings, and Glasco said both teams are very different from that first matchup.

“The girls worked really, really, really hard since the fall,” Glasco said, “and they’ve improved in so many ways. Up and down the lineup, in the bullpen, everybody’s peaking. We’re healthy. I think we’re just going into this regional absolutely cooking and we’re hitting on all cylinders, as my dad would say. Just really pumped.”

Lauren Allred — a second team all-Big 12 selection, who followed Glasco from Louisiana — and Johnson said the Red Raiders have worked steadily to get to this point.

“I think the biggest thing is growing,” Allred said. “We continue to grow. We never were satisfied even when we were in a good spot. We continue to strive to do better and I think we’re starting to peak at the right time.”

Getting to host a regional at all was the main goal for the Red Raiders, Glasco said. Fans have gravitated toward Texas Tech this year, breaking numerous attendance records during the historic season, and he’s excited to see the turnout for this weekend’s festivities.

“We had to get this regional here to get the fans out to get to see the athleticism and the talent that our team has,” Glasco said. “There’s no doubt in my mind that once the community comes out and they see the talent in the girls, the way they play, with speed, with hustle that we’re going to have, it’s going to be a building moment for our program and take it to heights that has never been seen.”

2025 NCAA Softball Tournament: Lubbock Regional

Games Friday-Sunday at Rocky Johnson Field

All times Central

FRIDAY

Game 1 — (12) Texas Tech (45-12) vs. Brown (33-15), 4:30 p.m. (ESPN+)

Game 2 — Washington (34-17) vs. Mississippi State (37-17), 7 p.m. (ESPN2)

SATURDAY

Game 3 — Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2, 1 p.m. (TV TBD)

Game 4 — Lower of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2, 3:30 p.m. (TV TBD)

Game 5 — Loser of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4, 6 p.m. (TV TBD)

SUNDAY

Game 6 — Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 5, 2 p.m. (TV TBD)

Game 7 — If necessary, 4:30 p.m., (TV TBD)

Link

Luke Fedlam is a partner and co-chair of the Entertainment, Sports and Media Practice at Amundsen Davis.With the proposed House v. NCAA settlement on the horizon, the structure of college athletics is poised for a historic shift. Participating Power Four institutions — along with any additional schools that opt in — will allocate $20.5 million annually in revenue sharing to student-athletes.

It’s a long-overdue acknowledgment of the commercial value athletes bring to college sports.

But amidst the financial breakthrough, a foundational promise is being overlooked: education.

The very institutions tasked with preparing young people for life are now direct participants in commercial transactions with their own students. As schools assume the role of an informed and prepared counterparty Name, Image, and Likeness arrangements — helping to facilitate deals, co-brand partnerships or provide NIL-related payments — an inherent conflict emerges.

It becomes increasingly difficult for these same institutions to serve as impartial educators in matters where their own interests are also at stake.

What makes this moment more urgent is the retreat we’re seeing from athletic departments. Faced with tightening budgets and new NIL obligations, many programs are scaling back or eliminating third-party educational resources that student-athletes need now more than ever.

Having worked with athletes across the country — from top-tier high schools to powerhouse Division I programs — I have observed the same pattern time and again: young people (and their families) are navigating complex financial and legal issues without adequate preparation.

And the stakes are too high to let them figure it out on their own.

There are four critical areas where immediate, sustained education is not only advisable — it is imperative:

1. Contract literacy: Student-athletes are signing both NIL marketing and representation agreements that bind them to long-term obligations. Some contracts include perpetual rights to their name and image, restrictive endorsement clauses, complex termination provisions and unfair sublicensing rights. In many cases, athletes and their families have no experience interpreting such documents — and do not even know where to begin. While knowledgeable legal professionals exist in this space, access remains uneven and often unavailable to those who need it most. And to be clear, a marketing agent does not offer the same level of protection, nor unbiased education, to a student-athlete.
2. Tax compliance: NIL earnings are not wages. Student-athletes are classified as independent contractors for tax purposes when it comes to NIL, and therefore, taxes are not withheld from their payments. Unless an athlete proactively sets aside money for tax liabilities, they face potential financial exposure that can quickly escalate. I’ve met with athletes who earned over seven figures through NIL — and failed to withhold money for taxes. The consequences of that kind of financial misstep can far outlast any college career.
3. Financial management: NIL introduces significant income into the lives of student-athletes — many of whom are receiving substantial payments for the first time. Without financial literacy education, these young earners may spend impulsively, make ill-advised investments or provide unsustainable financial support to friends and family. A basic understanding of budgeting, saving and long-term planning is not a luxury; it is a necessity that should be integrated into every athletic department’s student support strategy.
4. Career preparation beyond sports: Despite the attention NIL deals receive, 98% of college athletes will not go on to play professionally. Many will graduate and enter a job market where traditional starting salaries bear no resemblance to the sums they received in college for making a few social media posts or public appearances. NIL is not a career path — it is a temporary and highly situational source of income that is momentary and market-driven. Without a plan for life after sports, and without a dose of realism with post-college starting salaries, student-athletes risk being unprepared, mentally or psychologically, for the professional world when a college career comes to an end.

The ethical obligation for education in this new era is clear.

Schools cannot reasonably benefit from the commercial success of their athletes while neglecting the educational responsibilities that ought to come with it. If institutions are unable to provide independent, conflict-free education internally, they must engage trusted third-party educators, advisors and legal experts to do so. To do otherwise is to profit while abdicating duty.

This is a transformative moment in college athletics.

The financial recognition of student-athletes is long overdue — but compensation without education is exploitation in a new form. The path forward must be built on transparency, empowerment and a sincere commitment to the long-term wellbeing of student-athletes. 

Anything less would be a betrayal of the very principles higher education claims to uphold.

Luke Fedlam is a partner and co-chair of the Entertainment, Sports and Media Practice at Amundsen Davis. He advises athletes and their families, specializing in education, legal protection and long-term planning in the Name, Image, and Likeness era.