NIL
Tennessee’s Karen Weekly discusses college softball tampering, NIL
Tennessee softball lost a student-athlete to the NCAA transfer portal following the 2025 season.
Redshirt sophomore Taylor Pannell committed to Texas Tech on Thursday. She appeared in 124 games, including 122 starts, for the Lady Vols from 2023-25.
Following Pannell’s transfer, Tennessee head coach Karen Weekly discussed the NCAA transfer portal and NIL on a social media post Friday.
“I think we can all agree on 2 things: 1) women making money in sports is awesome and long overdue; 2) contacting players (directly or indirectly) before their season ends and signing them to NIL deals before they enter the portal is wrong,” Weekly said. “Money isn’t the issue – tampering is!”
Pannell recorded a .351 batting average, 25 home runs, 102 RBIs, 83 runs, 124 hits, 44 walks and 11 stolen bases in three seasons at Tennessee.
The Lady Vols advanced to the Women’s College World Series in 2023 and 2025, while winning the SEC regular-season championship from 2023-24 and the league’s tournament title in 2023.
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