Hours before the she leads the Texas Tech softball team into Game 3 of the Women's College World Series championship against Texas, ESPN's Ramona Shelburne reports that Canady has signed on to return to the Red Raiders for the 2026 season, citing her manager, Derrick Shelby of Prestige Management Group, as the source of the information.

Texas Tech’s NiJaree Canady threw every pitch for the Red Raiders in the Women’s College World Series, all the way through the first two games of the championship series and the first inning of the third.

Ramona Shelburne of ESPN reported that the ace pitcher had signed a "seven-figure NIL deal" to keep her with the program past the 2025 season. The junior right-hander had transferred to Texas Tech from Stanford ahead of the 2025 season and became the first softball player to secure a NIL deal in excess of $1 million.