Haley and Hanna Cavinder are leaving the University of Miami, the twins announced Tuesday.
The Cavinders, who transferred to Miami last season after spending the last three seasons at Fresno State, said in a statement they’re leaving the Hurricanes and college basketball behind.
The twins said their decision to forgo a fifth year of eligibility, granted to student athletes due to the COVID-19 pandemic, comes in order to “start a new chapter in our lives.”
“The U will always be home and we are forever proud to be Hurricanes,” Haley, 22, wrote in the twins’ joint statement. “Lastly, to everyone who has supported us through our basketball journey — we can’t thank you enough for all the love you gave each and every game. What started as us playing basketball 16 years ago, turned into something bigger than we could ever imagine.”
The twins helped the Miami women’s basketball team to its best finish in program history last month, reaching the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament before losing to the eventual champion Louisiana State University.
Haley was the team’s leading scorer throughout the season with 12.2 points per game and also led the team in minutes played. Both twins led the team in free throw percentage, as well.
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But it’s the Cavinders’ presence off the court that’s gotten the world talking.
The twins’ 4.5 million followers on TikTok has led them to rake in roughly $1.7 million in endorsement deals under the league’s new “Name, Image, and Likeness” (NIL) rule, according to a report last year. The twins have worked with brands like Crocs, GoPuff, Champs Sports, Venmo, Boost Mobile, Raising Canes, Intuit Turbotax and more.
Darren Heitner, the lawyer who has worked with the twins on their endorsement deals in recent years, retweeted their announcement Tuesday afternoon and said they were “forever the queens of #NIL.”
Among the twins’ endorsements, the twins are also signed to WWE under its NIL program which aims to recruit college athletes to become professional wrestlers on its numerous television programs.