Win or lose, NiJaree Canady is the face of college softball — and her star is only rising

New York Times

3 days ago

NiJaree Canady sliced a rise ball through the evening air, leaving it hovering over the plate just long enough to fool Ole Miss catcher Lexie Brady. Swing, miss, strikeout.
Then came Canady's footstomp, a thunderous statement from the best player in the game, a celebration of joy, dominance and swagger that has catapulted her into the mainstream. The 'NiJa stomp' has echoed around Devon Park, home of the Women's College World Series, over the last week as Canady asserts herself in the circle, celebrating each strikeout — and doing it loudly.
'I am definitely stomping with her,' said former James Madison pitcher Odicci Alexander, who played in the 2021 WCWS. 'There is so much shine on her. Some people are like, why is she stomping, why are you stomping with her? But I'm like, 'Girl, put a hole in the ground.''
NIJA STOMP TO END IT 😤#WCWS x 🎥 ESPN / @TexasTechSB pic.twitter.com/X8F8jM8U0i
— NCAA Softball (@NCAASoftball) May 30, 2025
By now you have probably heard of, and may have seen, Canady, the million-dollar pitcher who spurned a Stanford degree to enroll at Texas Tech last summer, curious to see if she could lift a program from doormat to dominant. A 6-foot ace with long black braids and a megawatt smile, Canady has become the face of the sport as her stomp vibrates beyond Oklahoma City.
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On Thursday, Canady and the Red Raiders will try to force a winner-take-all Game 3 vs. Texas after losing 2-1 in Game 1 on Wednesday. The defeat came after a rare mistake from Canady, who has been nearly flawless throughout the postseason.
Leading 1-0 in the bottom of the sixth, with a runner on second and third base and two outs, Canady attempted to intentionally walk UT catcher Reese Atwood. But her pitch with a 3-0 count hung too close to the strike zone and Atwood smashed it for a two-run single to propel Texas to the win. Intentional walks are uncommon for Canady, but she wasn't making excuses afterward.
'I'm a college pitcher,' she said. 'I should be able to do that.'
Both programs are seeking their first national title. It feels overdue for the Longhorns, runners-up two of the last three years. For Texas Tech, appearing in its first title series in its first WCWS, it is validation of a titanic investment in a previously mediocre program.
And for Canady, it is a chance to lift an entire sport to another stratosphere.
Softball has had generational talent before — UCLA pitcher Lisa Fernandez, Texas ace Cat Osterman, Oklahoma slugger Jocelyn Alo — but none had quite the opportunity to go mainstream like Canady. It started because of her unprecedented payday. It's been heightened because of her ability in the circle.
Canady is, in many ways, the perfect player at the perfect time: As the WCWS celebrates record viewership, a new pro softball league prepares to launch and the sport readies for a return to the Olympics, her potential to propel softball into the public consciousness is Caitlin Clark-esque — regardless of whether she walks away from this week with a national championship.
'She got paid $1 million, and we don't see that in women's sports,' said ESPN analyst Jessica Mendoza, a two-time Olympian who is on the call in Oklahoma City. 'That type of news definitely broke through outside of our sport. But then, to do exactly what they paid her to do — more times than not, people succumb to pressure.'
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Because of their ability to silence the other team's offense, no single player impacts a team sport more than a standout softball pitcher. Canady is proof of that, throwing every one of Tech's 388 pitches in Oklahoma City and totaling 32 strikeouts across four games. Her power from the circle is especially impressive because softball is built to be a hitters' game. And Canady is perhaps even more valuable to Tech because of her ability to hit, too; she's batting .288 going into Thursday.
But her hold on the sport is about more than her mesmerizing play.
Retired Arizona coach Mike Candrea, who won eight WCWS titles and two medals as the Olympic coach in 2004 and 2008, has been impressed by Canady's poise, efficiency and the infectious joy she plays with. It's clear that people love her and love playing with her.
'But, man, when she gets in the circle,' he said, 'she is an assassin.'
Canady reached the WCWS twice as the ace at Stanford, but became more well-known last summer when she commanded that $1 million in the transfer portal, an unheard-of number for an athlete outside of football and men's basketball. (Texas, traditionally the power in its state, couldn't compete financially with that figure, said Osterman, the former UT star.) She has more than proved her worth, pushing the program to its first Big 12 title and first Super Regional appearance behind a 0.94 ERA, the best in Division I this year.
'She is leading a shift,' Osterman said. 'This is going to force other schools to up their game. Other athletes who have been in contention for player of the year awards, now they're saying, 'Hey, if that's what she got, I can't just say OK to $10,000 or $20,000.''
People are paying attention. ESPN has shattered viewership ratings, setting an all-time pre-finals record, up 25 percent year-over-year. Three-time Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes, a Tech alum, has been posting to social media in real time during Red Raiders games, seemingly living and dying with every Canady pitch. He gifted the players gear this week and was expected to try to attend the series in person.
Game recognize game ⏰💪🐐@PatrickMahomes x @adidasDugout pic.twitter.com/lkrtpWzawZ
— Texas Tech Softball (@TexasTechSB) June 4, 2025
For softball stakeholders, the best news about Canady's meteoric rise is that she'll be back in Lubbock next year. Given that she's already entered the rarified air of being known only by one name — say 'NiJa' and softball fans know who you mean — it's enticing to imagine how popular she can become. Could she mimic Clark in capturing the public's attention so much that ESPN puts her on prime time during the regular season, as happened with Iowa women's basketball during Clark's senior year?
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'Please, please, please,' begged Mendoza, a four-time All-American at Stanford who calls both softball and baseball for ESPN. 'That is my dream.'
'You wait for these once-in-a-generation athletes to bring us right to the brink and we've had them, but for some reason it hasn't been the player,' Mendoza said. 'You can have all kinds of theories about what it's going to take to bring people to our sport, what will get them excited, get their attention. Right now, I'm watching all these men's sports shows and they're talking about softball. This is exactly what we've wanted. I've been waiting for this.'
She's not the only one.
'There is a Rubik's cube of criteria that's twisting and turning all these decades,' said retired UCLA coach Sue Enquist, who won 11 titles with the Bruins. 'So many pieces have to turn and twist to line up and get all the colors to match on one side. What we're witnessing is a renaissance.'
There's been an undeniable burst of energy around women's sports over the last few years, from skyrocketing valuations of pro franchises to the continued commitment to build facilities specifically for women's teams and events. A new professional softball league, with significant financial backing from MLB, starts Saturday, hopeful to capitalize on momentum from the WCWS. The spike in popularity — evidenced by a jump in attendance, viewership, sponsorships and merchandise sales — comes from a foundation laid by basketball and soccer, Enquist said.
Now, behind Canady and her trademark stomp, it's softball's turn.
'Star power changes the ratings significantly,' said play-by-play announcer Beth Mowins, calling her 31st WCWS this week. 'Our research shows that fans follow their team, but there really is tremendous interest in star players. For years in women's sports, there was room for maybe one star — Mia Hamm in soccer, Serena (Williams) in tennis.
'But now, with social media, it's spread out more and you have a constant connection to every game. Because women play four years of college sports, NiJaree's star power, just like Caitlin's, will grow each season. And like we've seen with Caitlin, a rising tide lifts all boats.'
Four years ago, Alexander — the former James Madison pitcher whose first name is pronounced 'Odyssey' — became the darling of the WCWS, leading the Dukes to the semifinals before being eliminated by Oklahoma. She was the rare softball superstar talented enough to lead a mid-major to the WCWS. She is also Black.
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Other Black pitchers have excelled at previous WCWS, including Aleshia Ocasio from Florida and UCLA's Anjelica Sheldon. But they aren't common. In 2021, Alexander talked frankly about the fact that often, she looked around the field during youth travel softball tournaments and realized she was the only Black player.
That Canady, a Black woman, has become a folk hero of sorts in a predominantly White sport isn't lost on people.
'It's important for any young girl to see themselves,' Mendoza said. 'For me, with Lisa Fernandez, seeing a Hispanic woman on a big stage, understanding my own culture, seeing that brown skin matters, that was huge.'
That she is excelling loudly matters, too.
The origin of Canady's stomp is unknown. She's been doing it nearly as long as she's been in the circle. Her reactions, just like her rise ball, set her apart from others who have come before her. Dominant pitchers are nothing new, but demonstrative ones are.
'You might see a high five or a fist pump, but that's it, and it's usually hitters. You never really saw pitchers do it,' Mendoza said. 'Now, NiJa has allowed what's within her — she's fired up, she's passionate — to come out.'
Alexander, watching from Chicago this week, loves that Canady plays with 'such a free, passionate spirit.' Tech pitching coach Tara Archibald described the stomp as 'a release.'
'When you see her in those moments — it's always getting out of a big inning — she'll have that reaction after that, but it's for her team, it's for her teammates,' Archibald said. 'It's 'we did this.' I think it's knowing how much she's put into it to be able to get to that point. It's just pouring out of her. It's so fun to watch.'
And it's probably about to become a lot more common.
'I guarantee you when we all watch the Softball Little League World Series in August, we're gonna see little girls throwing their foot down, fist pumping, igniting the crowd,' Mendoza said. 'The 'NiJa stomp' will be heard 'round the world.'