On Monday, Stanford softball sophomore pitcher NiJaree Canady entered the transfer portal. CardinalSportsReport.com received confirmation Monday evening after previously learning that she was still making up her mind over the weekend.
Canady has been a part of two College World Series teams during her two years at Stanford, rising to superstardom as a sophomore after an impressive freshman season. In 41 games played as a sophomore, Canady had a 24-7 record and a ridiculous 0.73 ERA to go along with 337 strikeouts, 14 shutouts, and five saves. As a result of her stellar play, she was named USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year.
If you followed Stanford’s run to the College World Series this season, you would know that Canady was a major reason why they got there. She pitched with very little rest and in many ways had to a be a one-woman pitching staff out there. She gave it her all and carried the Cardinal defense on her back.
For Stanford, Canady entering the portal is obviously not good news. They would love to keep her, but now that she is open to hearing offers from other programs, it’s going to be harder for them to do so. It’ll be interesting to see if Stanford is able to convince Canady to stay and come up with the kind of NIL package she is looking for or if she’ll end up going elsewhere.
CardinalSportsReport.com on Facebook & X (Twitter): @StanfordRivals
Ben Parker on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, & X (Twitter): @slamdunk406
Email: slamdunk406@yahoo.com
