Texas Tech Reloaded Ahead of the 2026 Season, Here’s How It’s Paying Off
Glasco's Red Raiders could be called a super-team
- Following the 2025 championship loss, Texas Tech focused on rebuilding with the No. 1 transfer portal class ahead of the 2026 season.
- The Red Raiders added top Division I softball talent through the transfer portal to fuel another championship run.
The greatest show on dirt came to an end when Texas Tech sophomore infielder Lauren Allred grounded out to shortstop. For the opposing Texas Longhorns, the dream was achieved, but for the Red Raiders, it was the beginning of a journey.
In the offseason following the 2025 Women’s College World Series, the World Series runner-up coaching staff made it a mission to pick up as much talent in the offseason. The Red Raiders brought in the No. 1 transfer portal class before the 2026 season, which included big names from other premier teams in Division 1 softball.
Raiders head coach Gerry Glasco has experience building elite teams through the portal. It all started across the state line at the University of Louisiana Lafayette (ULL) in his first head coaching role. He led the Cajuns to five Sunbelt Conference championships and four conference tournament championships, developing the Louisiana program into the powerhouse it became in recent years.
The former Ragin Cajun coach also appeared in several regionals and super regional games during his time in Lafayette, including eliminating LSU at home in 2023.
All of this demonstrated his readiness for a coaching role that has access to more resources, and in his first season away from Louisiana, he led Texas Tech to the WCWS, along with five of his Lafayette stars.
In 2025, the Red Raiders also brought in the No. 1 transfer class, and this was largely due to the stars that followed him from Louisiana. Glasco and his staff were clearly on a mission in the 2025 offseason because of the level of talent Texas Tech brought in.
Big additions to the offseason included Desirae Spearman from New Mexico State and Kaitlyn Terry from UCLA to deepen the pitching staff. Taylor Pannell from Tennessee and Mia Williams from Florida were added to bring some heat in the batter's box.
"We wanted to add depth and experience in as many places as possible as we try to win the National Championship this coming season," Glasco said. "Obviously it will be very difficult to improve upon our 2025 season, but as a staff we feel like we have made tremendous improvements as we enter our second season at Texas Tech."
These new pickups have been key so far in 2026.
The biggest impact so far during the season has been Jasmyn Burns. She transferred from Ohio State, and she has been dominating in this young 2026 season. Through her first 12 games played, she has batted the magic .333, and has scored at least one RBI per game. Four of the RBI Burns gathered wasduring the Nutter Classic when she hit a grand slam to bring Texas Tech into run-rule territory over Fresno State.
There were also three other players added to the roster for depth.
After a tough weekend in Clearwater, Florida, the Red Raiders have been battle-tested early, but these transfers were strong throughout the contest. Mia Williams and Kaitlyn Terry are at the top of the Texas Tech stat sheets through the opening part of the season.
Williams has a batting average over .450, and Terry, hitting .560, just clearing her teammate's mark. During the weekend in Florida, Williams made several web-gems at second base, and Terry dealt hard in the circle.
Terry’s success in the circle will be the biggest difference maker for Texas Tech when the postseason comes around. The detriment to the iconic run in 2025 was the lack of pitching depth, and Glasco has shown trust in Terry by allowing her to start and close several games.
Williams has held down the power numbers for Texas Tech by crushing three home runs and seven doubles throughout the two weeks of the season. She has batted in 34 just throughout the young season already.
Taylor Pannell has also impacted the Red Raiders' offense. She’s batting just over .380 at this point in the season, and she was 3-for-4 in one of the games in the invitational.
The transfers have already combined for 117 of Texas Tech’s 225 RBI so far this season. The pitching staff has been getting it done, too, tossing 65 of the 160 total strikeouts for the Red Raiders’ staff.
Even though it’s still early in a lengthy 2026 season, the waters have to be tested early. These athletes have been through the wringer for at least one season with other top schools, the key is going to be finding their footing in a new lineup.
During fall ball, Glasco said that the players have shocked him. He said that the new additions to the Red Raiders will deepen the staff and they’ve blown his expectations away.
“I think all of the transfers are different than what I would’ve pictured coming into the fall,” Glasco said during fall ball. “I could go through every one of them because they’ve shown me things I didn’t think I was going to see.”
The thing that set Texas Tech apart from other teams before the season even started was the willingness to spend its NIL money.
According to the Big 12 revenue sharing allotments, each school will have about $2.7 million to allot to all sports other than football and men’s basketball.
NIL did a lot for Glasco and Texas Tech in the historic 2025 run. He proved how important resources are in the growing sport of college softball. In his move to Texas Tech, he brought the majority of his athletes from the Bayou, but he also garnered a big one: pitcher NiJaree Canady.
Canady was named the National Freshman of the Year in 2023 and Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year in 2024, and in 2025, she transferred to Texas Tech for a $1 million NIL deal.
“I feel like it can be a pressure if you let it be,” Canady said after signing her deal, “but honestly, I think it's just a privilege. I hope someone tomorrow comes in and builds it even more."
Canady’s deal was signed with The Matador Club, which is the Texas Tech NIL Collective. This is the only publicly disclosed deal for the team.
The Matador Club is funded by local businesses and boosters, so it’s local support for the Red Raiders from the fans at all levels. However, Texas Tech hasn’t publicly said where the money for the new transfer class has came from specifically, and has declined to comment on it as well.
After the historic 2025 run, Glasco and staff utilized the NIL money that was at their fingertips.
The moneygame defines college athletics, and because of it, Texas Tech has become one of the most well-known softball programs with a click of a button. This was how the Red Raiders sweetened the deal for Canady and its No. 1 Overall Portal Class entering 2026.
"They came in my office last year in January, the legal team and the compliance team, and told me how they were going to do this and how they wanted to be in a position to win the national championship this year with NiJa Canady in her senior year," Glasco told Sports Illustrated. "That wasn't (the) coaching staff, that wasn't the athletic director, that's the compliance and The Matador Club and the booster club."
Losing in the finals was heartbreaking for the Red Raiders and their fans, but the mission clearly isn’t done to go all the way in 2026. After picking up the athletes Glasco has and being ranked preseason No.1 in the Nation, the stakes are as high as ever.
“[This season] is precious,” Glasco said about his team. “We’ve got a rare opportunity this year. We’ve got a very unique team with a lot of talent.”