NIL
USA TODAY Sports Network 2025 All-Big 12 softball awards
Texas Tech made a major investment in its softball program a year ago, and it didn’t take long for the Red Raiders to yield superb results.
The Red Raiders will open play in the Big 12 Tournament at Devon Park on Thursday as the league’s regular-season champions. Tech’s dominance was well-represented on the USA TODAY Sports Network’s 2025 All-Big 12 softball team with three first-team selections.
Junior pitcher Nijaree Canady, who transferred from Stanford last summer, was voted Big 12 Player of the Year after leading the Big 12 with a 23-5 record and a 0.86 earned-run average. Her 237 strikeouts trailed only Arizona State’s Kenzie Brown by 15.
Texas Tech’s Bailey Lindemuth and Mihyia Davis joined Canady on the first team.
Texas Tech coach Gerry Glasco was voted Big 12 Coach of the Year, taking the Red Raiders from a 29-21 record in 2024 to 42-12 in his first season after coming over from Louisiana.
The reigning national player of the year, Canady reportedly signed a one-year, $1-million deal last summer with Tech’s NIL collective, the Matador Club. It was an unheard of investment for a college softball player, but it shined a spotlight on the growing popularity of the sport.
“When I look back on this sport,” Canady told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal before the season, “I just want to make sure I left it all on the table and leave it all on the field.”
Here’s how writers from the USA TODAY Sports Network voted for the 2025 All-Big 12 softball team:
USA TODAY Sports Network All-Big 12 softball team
- Catcher: Sydney Stewart, Arizona
- First base: Shaylon Govan, Baylor
- Second base: Rosie Davis, Oklahoma State
- Shortstop: Hailey Morrow, BYU
- Third base: Bailey Lindemuth, Texas Tech
- Outfield: Mihyia Davis, Texas Tech-*
- Outfield: Ilove’a Brittingham, BYU
- Outfield: Angelina Allen, Iowa State
- Designated player: Devyn Netz, Arizona-*
- Pitcher: NiJaree Canady, Texas Tech-*
- Pitcher: Kenzie Brown, Arizona State-*
- Pitcher: Ruby Meylan, Oklahoma State
- Player of the year: NiJaree Canady, Texas Tech
- Coach of the year: Gerry Glasco, Texas Tech
- Freshman of the year: Ilove’a Brittingham, BYU
- Newcomer of the year: NiJaree Canady, Texas Tech
*-Unanimous selection
Voters: Jenni Carlson, The Oklahoman; Nathan Giese, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal; Jeff Patterson, The Oklahoman; Scott Wright, The Oklahoman