college basketball
- Haley and Hanna Cavinder renounce college eligibility senior year
- Social media stars have more than 4.5 million followers on TikTok
- Twins led Hurricanes to the NCAA’s Elite Eight on a historic run
Associated Press
Tuesday 11 April 2023 at 6:13pm BST
Apparently, the Elite Eight was enough for Haley and Hanna Cavinder and their time in Miami is over.
The Cavinder twins — two of the most prominent athletes in the era of collegiate athletics’ name, image and likeness — announced Tuesday they will not be returning to the Hurricanes next season, ending their tenure in Miami after a year with the program.
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The Cavinders — who are 22 and were listed as seniors on the Miami roster — both played four seasons in college but could have played the next season because the NCAA ruling gave all athletes who got through a year of the Eligibility refunded a pandemic-hit season.
They transferred from Fresno State to Miami in April 2022 in hopes of entering the NCAA tournament, and likely even exceeded their own expectations by helping the Hurricanes fail just short of making the Final Four.
“We want to thank our teammates and coaches for welcoming us as family and being part of a historic season,” the twins said in a statement. “With this in mind, Hanna and I have decided not to take our fifth year and start a new chapter in our lives. The U will always be home and we will always be proud to be Hurricanes.”
Haley Cavander finished this season with 2,065 career points, which ranks 19th among all active Division I players. She’s averaged 12.2 points per game this season, the best team for Miami — and her 65 hits from three-pointers was another team-high by a wide margin.
Hanna Cavander averaged 3.8 points for Miami this season. The Hurricanes lost a regional final to eventual national champions LSU and finished the year with a 22-13 record.
Miami’s Haley Cavinder (14) and Hanna Cavinder (15) celebrate after the Hurricanes defeated Florida State at the Watsco Center in February. Photo: Miami Herald/TNS
The decision came as a bit of a surprise, at least from one of the twins’ point of view. Haley Cavinder said ahead of the NCAA tournament that she plans to return to the Hurricanes next season, which would have been her final year of college eligibility. Hanna Cavander said at the time she tends not to play again after this season.
And that begged the question: would a Cavander twin play without the other? Barring a change of heart, her announcement on Tuesday provided the answer.
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“I love basketball,” Hanna Cavander told the Associated Press last month while discussing her tendency not to play. “I ride or die basketball. I gave so much of my life to basketball. And sometimes I’m like, ‘I just want to breathe.’ I really just want to breathe. I want to live. I don’t want a plan. I don’t want a schedule. But at the end of the day, I’m so competitive in life that I don’t know if I’ll regret it or not.”
The twins have 4.5 million followers on TikTok, part of their massive social media presence. When the NIL era kicked off on January 1, 2021 and NCAA rules allowed athletes to capitalize on their name, image and likeness, the Cavinders were among the early stars: Boost Mobile immediately signed them and ran a huge ad to advertise them in New York for the Times Square deal and many other deals followed.
“What started out 16 years ago with us playing basketball grew into something bigger than we could ever have imagined,” the twins said Tuesday.
Her decision to come to Miami has come under scrutiny, and an NCAA investigation resulted in coach Katie Meier missing the first three games of this season on a university-imposed suspension pending sanctions related to the Meeting the twins and their family was given a Hurricane booster before signing.
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