And here's the reason that Texas Tech is getting all these transfers....
They reportedly are taking advantage of a loophole in the system that allows third parties to contact prospective players before they go into the transfer portal. The Texas Tech NIL collective, the Matador Club, and Nathan Nelson, a well-known travel ball coach, are supposedly doing the dirty work long before the players declare that they are entering the portal.
From the story:
"A parent of a player who was contacted by Nelson spoke with Softball On SI in exchange for anonymity and said they received a phone call in April with a six-figure offer to transfer to Texas Tech.
“I know for 100 percent fact that there were kids in April, and even earlier than that, signed. Nathan Nelson told me before April 7, they were signing kids from other schools while they were playing with other teams to go to Texas Tech in 2026.”
"Ten sources confirmed with Softball On SI that Nelson or The Matador Club also contacted Taylor Pannell, Isa Torres, Dakota Kennedy, Reese Atwood, Kasidi Pickering, Maci Bergeron, Dez Spearman, and Tori Edwards.
"Pannell entered the transfer portal on Thursday with a do-not-contact tag and was reportedly in Lubbock with instructions not to appear in any photos because she wasn’t in the transfer portal, according to an additional four sources."
I suppose "if you ain't cheating, you ain't trying" now applies to softball.
24 Replies
1y
Hmmm
(In response to this post by VTChip)
1y
and filthy rich TT donors who are paying for these players. Texas is loaded with millionaires and rich alum. It doesn't matter if their university is losing $$ in softball every year, it's the outsiders who are paying for these players NILs. Based on what we are seeing, VT doesn't have big NILs or enough rich alum to donate to VT softball to help us recruit the top players in the country. That's the reality.
(In response to this post by hokiepro)
1y
if they do not) that money from tickets goes into the general fund, it doesn't stay in softball.
(In response to this post by hokiepro)
1y
But it won't IMO
(In response to this post by laphroaig)
R
RJHokie
1y
threshold of ticket revenue that would trigger the athletic department’s selling of tickets to the various Olympic sports games.
As an example, until the last few years or so, believe Women’s Basketball had ticket revenue of less than $200k per year. Softball could probably eclipse that total.
** Edited by RJHokie at 6/13/2025, 2:36:20 PM
(In response to this post by TomTurkey)
1y
Just a coincidence, I’m sure.
(In response to this post by VTChip)
1y
Her tweet today, which I agree with in principle, but I don’t know how you prove it.
(In response to this post by VTChip)
2
2hhoop3
1y
on much of anything but, in this case she is right and I agree.
(In response to this post by VTChip)
G
GBOHokie
1y
Value for softball can be that high.
(In response to this post by VTChip)
1y
I don’t know the details, but wonder whether all payments after 7/1 are subject to review, or just payments for new contracts that are signed after 7/1
(In response to this post by GBOHokie)
1y
Her personal announcement on Twitter popped into my feed this evening. I paused to think if I wanted to click and see all the most likely negative comments, so I stopped myself because I know it would disappoint me.
(In response to this post by VTChip)
D
dallasvt
1y
what I mean.
(In response to this post by VTChip)
1y
(In response to this post by dallasvt)
1y
With the numbers she was putting up, if it wasn’t TTU it would have been someone else.
(In response to this post by VTChip)
1y
I think I’d rather see OU win 5 out of 6 vs TTU buying a championship. I understand it’s part of the game now and all teams sprinkle in portal players to accent what they already have. But this is just straight up wrong offering people in the middle of the season regardless if it’s “legal.”
(In response to this post by VTChip)
1y
the “Now It’s Legal” definition of NIL. I don’t agree with any schools being shady or buying players, but TT is not alone, in my opinion.
(In response to this post by VTsportscaster)
1y
All of these individuals are part of the Matador Club and this should be a huge NCAA violation. If these individuals are part of any club or boosters, where they donate, then they are breaking NCAA rules. I have read this before in the VT NCAA no no's. It would be the same thing if I went out and start recruiting players early on and getting in touch with the coaches at VT and then they offer an NIL deal to them. Plus contacting them in season is also a violation of NCAA rules. The rules state you can not contact a player not in the portal at all while playing or attending another school until that player enters the portal. Unfortunately, this is not what is happening currently. The loophole is BS because they are members of their boosters, Matador Club! Patty Gasso, and Mike White, where are you at? Time to fight back against outright cheating, due to billionaires playing with young ladies lives and that's not cool!
(In response to this post by VTsportscaster)
1y
(In response to this post by PokieHokie)
1y
he is in violation. I find it hard to believe that he doesn't have some paper trail that would show he is involved with Texas Tech in more that just being a club coach. Not questioning you, but something smells foul here. If this can be done, other teams can do it and the teams with the richest boosters willing to pump money into their softball teams will dominate the college softball landscape. Think about, Nijaree Canady is the first poster child for this experiment, and it was successful to within one win of the WCWS. Texas Tech now has some of the best talent from around the entire country on one team. It is their championship to lose, because if they don't win, the experiment fails. I never thought softball would be in a bidding war for top players like football and basketball, but I guess the entire landscape of college athletics is scewed in 2025 and beyond unless there are huge revisions to the current lack of oversight by the NCAA.
(In response to this post by VTsportscaster)