NiJaree Canady

NiJaree Canady (born 2003 or 2004) is an American college softball pitcher for Texas Tech. She previously played at Stanford. As a freshman in 2023, she was named NFCA National Freshman of the Year. As a sophomore in 2024, she was named USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year.

Canady attended Topeka High School in Topeka, Kansas where she was a two-sport athlete, playing both basketball and softball.

In basketball, during her freshman year in 2018, she averaged 20.6 points per game and 10.6 rebounds per game and led the Trojans to a 22–3 record. During her sophomore year in 2019, she averaged 18.8 points per game and 10.2 rebounds per game and led the Trojans to a 23–0 record, before the postseason was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During her junior year in 2020, she averaged a league-best 20.6 points per game and 12.3 rebounds per game and led the Trojans to a 23–2 record and a second-place finish at the 6A state tournament. She was named first team All-League, first team All-City and first team All-State all three years of playing basketball.^[2][3][4]

In softball, during her junior year in 2021, she posted a 21–0 record with a 0.26 ERA and 232 Strikeouts in 107+2⁄3 innings. Offensively she hit .478 with 13 home runs and 49 RBI. In the Class 6A state tournament, she struck out 16 batters in each of the three tournament games, and gave up just six hits and no earned run at the tournament, to help the Trojans win their first ever state championship. She was subsequently named the Kansas Softball Gatorade Player of the Year.^[5] On October 12, 2021, Canady announced her commitment to Stanford, and would forgo her senior year of basketball to focus on softball.^[4] During her senior year in 2022, she posted a 13–1 record with a 0.84 ERA and 163 strikeouts in 74+2⁄3 innings. Offensively she hit .530 with seven home runs, 37 runs scored and 42 RBI. She helped lead the Trojans to a second straight Class 6A state championship. Following the season, she was named Kansas Softball Gatorade Player of the Year for the second consecutive year.^[6]

As a freshman during the 2023 season, Canady posted a 17–3 record with four saves in 24 starts and nine relief appearances. Two of her three losses came against 2023 Women's College World Series champion Oklahoma, which lost only one game all year. She led the nation in ERA (0.57) and strikeouts per seven innings (11.3) and ranked third in hits allowed per seven innings (3.32).^[7] She recorded 218 strikeouts in 135 innings, allowed only one home run all year, pitched two no-hitters, and pitched ten complete games, eight of which were shutouts.^[8][9] Her first career no-hitter took place on February 12, 2023, against Liberty.^[10] She pitched her second no-hitter on March 3 against Villanova, striking out 18 batters, one short of the record of 19 set by Missy Penna in 2009.^[11] She became the first Stanford player with multiple no-hitters in a season since Teagan Gerhart had three in 2010.^[12] She helped lead Stanford to the Women's College World Series for the first time since 2004.^[13] Following the season she was named a first-team all-Pac-12 honoree and All-Pac-12 freshman team selection. She was also named to the inaugural D1Softball All-American Freshman Team and named NFCA National Freshman of the Year, and Softball America Freshman of the Year.^[14][15][16]

As a sophomore during the 2024 season, Canady posted a 24–7 record with five saves. She led the nation with a 0.73 ERA, and 337 strikeouts, ranked third in strikeout-to-walk ratio (9.72). She led the Pac-12 in strikeouts per seven innings (10.7) and recorded a career-high 243 strikeouts in 168+2⁄3 innings during the regular season. She also pitched 24 complete games and nine shutouts. She surrendered multiple runs in just three games, in 37 appearances, and recorded 18 double-digit strikeout performances. Her five saves tied for the conference lead. She pitched all 26 innings for Stanford at the 2024 Women's College World Series and allowed just six runs as the Cardinal advanced to the semifinals, before being eliminated by the No. 1 seed Texas. She was subsequently named to the Women's College World Series all-tournament team.^[17][18] Following an outstanding season she was named Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year, Softball America Pitcher of the Year, NFCA National Pitcher of the Year and USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year.^{[19][20][21][22][23]} She also won the Honda Sports Award for softball.^[24]

On June 17, 2024, Canady entered the NCAA transfer portal. During two seasons at Stanford she posted a 41–10 record with nine saves, a 0.66 ERA and 555 strikeouts with 65 walks in 366+2⁄3 innings.^[25][26] On July 24, 2024, Canady announced she would transfer to Texas Tech.^[27] She also signed a $1 million NIL deal, the highest ever for a college softball player.^[28][29][30]