OKLAHOMA CITY (May 28, 2024) — Stanford University’s standout pitcher, NiJaree Canady, has made history by becoming the program’s second USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award winner, following in the footsteps of Ashley Hansen who won the award in 2011. Canady received the prestigious honor at tonight’s 2024 NCAA Softball Women’s College World Series (WCWS) banquet in Oklahoma City. The award has recognized outstanding athletic achievement by Division I softball players across the country over the past 22 seasons. Canady is the 16th pitcher to receive the award since its inception in 2002.
“Winning Player of the Year is everything. It has always been something that I’ve tried to strive for,” said Canady. “The other nominees are amazing and incredible so I feel like it could have gone any direction. I’m incredibly honored to have won the award,” she added.
Canady, a five-time Pitcher of the Week and All-Pac-12 First Team selection, has had an outstanding season in the circle, making her way onto the national leaderboard with a 0.53 ERA (No. 1), 243 strikeouts (No. 1), 12 earned runs (No. 1), and a .133 opposing batting average (No. 2) at the conclusion of the regular season. During the 2024 season, Canady achieved a significant milestone by tossing her 251st strikeout, earning the seventh-most strikeouts in a single season in program history. Throughout her sophomore season, Canady maintained a dominant presence on the rubber, achieving a 21-4 win/loss record and a 0.50 ERA over 187.2 innings pitched through post-season conference play. Her impressive performance across multiple categories secured Canady the 2024 Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year title. Canady led the Cardinal through the Stanford Super Regional against No. 10 ranked LSU where she threw 17 innings and 18 Ks to lead the program to its second-straight WCWS appearance.
Along with Canady, the Top 3 Finalists for the 2024 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year included Texas’ 2024 Big 12 Player of the Year, Reese Atwood, and Oklahoma State’s Big 12 Pitcher of the Year, Lexi Kilfoyl.
Click here to view lists of Finalists selected for the 2024 PoY Award »
Previous winners of the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year include Stacey Nuveman (UCLA – 2002), Cat Osterman (Texas – 2003, 2005, 2006), Jessica Van der Linden (Florida State – 2004), Monica Abbott (Tennessee – 2007), Angela Tincher (Virginia Tech – 2008), Danielle Lawrie (Washington – 2009, 2010), Ashley Hansen (Stanford – 2011), Keilani Ricketts (Oklahoma – 2012, 2013), Lacey Waldrop (Florida State – 2014), Lauren Haeger (Florida – 2015), Sierra Romero (Michigan – 2016), Kelly Barnhill (Florida – 2017), Rachel Garcia (UCLA – 2018, 2019), Jocelyn Alo (Oklahoma – 2021, 2022) and most recently, Valerie Cagle (2023).
The USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year is voted on by coaching representatives of 11 Division I Conferences in the 10 USA Softball Regions, members of the media who consistently cover Division I Softball across the country as well as past winners of the award.
Paired with the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award, USA Softball is also in its 22nd season of presenting the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll, which is released every Tuesday throughout the regular season. Follow along with Division I NCAA Softball all season long at USASoftball.com.