GRAB BAG: Why there's nothing wrong with NiJaree Canady picking Texas Tech, seven-figure payday

The graphic that softball star NiJaree Canady posted on her Twitter account Wednesday announcing her transfer to Texas Tech.

NiJaree Canady secured the bag.

Or maybe it was several bags.

And they might just be Hermes or Louis Vuitton.

Wednesday, the best college softball pitcher in all the land announced she was transferring to Texas Tech. While I'd heard Lubbock mentioned as a possible landing spot in recent weeks, I wasn't sure the Red Raiders would have what it took to land Canady.

After all, the Red Raiders have only reached the NCAA Tournament six times in program history and have never been to the Women's College World Series. Even though new coach Gerry Glasco has created hope, bringing five players with him from Louisiana, Texas Tech didn't lure Canady with tradition, recent or distant.

But Texas Tech had something no one else had — a seven-figure payday.

According to several reports, Canady agreed to a name/image/likeness deal that tops $1 million. Someone familiar with the proceedings got specific with The Athletic.

Total compensation: $1,050,024.

(Seems those last two digits might be an homage to her jersey, No. 24.)

Is this a money grab?

You bet.

And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Yes, I know Stanford fans held out hope Canady would stay in Palo Alto. Sure, Sooners everywhere wanted Canady to leave the Cardinal for the Crimson while other fans dreamed of how the hard-throwing righthander might transform their team.

But how could anyone be mad at Canady for making this decision and taking that money?

That payday is life-changing. (And the deal was only for a year; Canady has two years of eligibility remaining, so who knows how much she might ultimately pocket.) Such money can impact generations, being the seed to grow generational wealth, and if any athlete has the chance to make that kind of coin, no one should begrudge them for taking it.

I don’t hear anyone saying male athletes are wrong for taking big paydays.

Canady shouldn’t be vilified either.

"I could never have imagined this," Canady told my buddy Eli Lederman at ESPN. "But I feel like we need to invest in women's sports. We saw it with women's basketball this year — you invest in women's sports and women's basketball just blew up on a national stage.

"I think the same thing has happened with softball. ... If I'm even a little part of that, that's my whole dream."

Of course, women's basketball blew up largely because of Caitlin Clark and the way she played. The no-way shots from deep. The no-look passes to teammates.

Canady has impressive game, too. She dominates hitters with an arsenal of devastating pitches, none more so than her riseball. She throws it and everything else hard, too, hitting 75 miles per hour, just a couple of ticks slower than Monica Abbott's world record.

This past season, she led the nation with 337 strikeouts.

Get this: she averaged almost a strikeout and a half each inning she pitched.

And often when Canady gets one of those strikeouts, she celebrates with a stomp and a shout. She is both excited and exciting, and her ability and style could bring lots of new fans to softball.

Of course, Canady doesn't play every game like Clark did. I mean, I suspect Canady will pitch a lot of games at Tech — she did at Stanford, and it didn't seem to slow her down much at the end of the season — but softball pitchers are no longer every-game players like basketball players are.

Still, it's not crazy to think ESPN might start broadcasting games Canady pitches. Maybe even throw a few of them on ABC.

It wouldn't be all that difficult since Big 12 softball games are broadcast on ESPN+. All the World Wide Leader would have to do is throw a switch, and an even wider audience would get to see Canady.

And after this NIL deal, I suspect people are going to want to see her.

The Million-Dollar Woman is bound to cause curiosity. Why'd they give her so much money? Is she actually that good? Why not check her out and see?

It's hard to say what could come of such a spotlight for Canady or the sport, but for her part, all she can do is go out and play. It's what she's done all her life, first as a youth standout in Topeka, Kansas, then as a college star at Stanford.

The payoff has been big.

Astronomical, really.

I know some will argue that Canady is further away from a championship than if she'd stayed at Stanford. And when she entered the portal, I have to think getting closer to a championship was among her main goals. After two seasons as the best pitcher in college softball, she didn't even make the WCWS championship series with Stanford.

But I wonder if some of that blew away in the West Texas wind when she saw the kind of money she was commanding. Stanford reportedly came up with a healthy six-figure deal, and of course, Texas Tech went to a place no school has ever gone for a female athlete — to seven figures.

Canady couldn't let go of that bag.

Who among us could?