Cavinder twins bring skills, following
Miami’s women’s basketball program is about to go viral.
Basketball standouts and Internet stars Haley and Hanna Cavinder announced they were transferring from Fresno State to the Hurricanes on Thursday night, and Miami announced the transfer, as well.
“When we got on campus, there was just a vibe and a feeling you get when you know it is the right decision,” Haley Cavinder said in a press release. “I just think with coach Katie [Meier] and the leader she is and what she has done with the program, there is something that we were so attracted to, and I think we knew when leaving Miami that we wanted to come back.”
The twin sisters are both quality basketball players. Haley Cavinder averaged 19.8 points, 9.4 rebounds and 5.7 assists last season, while Hanna Cavinder averaged 14.5 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.7 assists.
Haley Cavinder is a three-time All-Mountain West selection and was named Mountain West Player of the Year in 2021. She was also the 2020 Mountain West Freshman of the Year. Hanna Cavinder was an All-Mountain West pick the past two seasons, as well.
“Coming into the offseason losing four impactful players, we felt like we had specific needs, and Haley and Hanna absolutely helped us meet several of them,” Meier said in a press release. “They are huge pieces for our program.”
Hanna Cavinder said one reason they picked Miami was to reach the NCAA tournament. The Hurricanes reached the ACC tournament final an fell to eventual champion South Carolina in the NCAA tournament’s second round.
“We wanted to have the best opportunity to get to the [NCAA] tournament,” Hanna said. “Miami stood out to us ... because of the vision coach Katie has with her staff. The leadership is everything we wanted and what the team accomplished this past year is something we were looking for and we can’t wait to be a part of that [next year].”
In addition to bringing their skills to the program, they will also bring a legion of social media followers. The sisters have a massive following on TikTok, with more than 4 million followers on that site. They have racked up more than 97.5 million likes on that platform.
The Cavinder sisters also have about 20,000 Twitter followers and more than 848,000 Instagram followers.
For comparison, the Miami women’s basketball team has about 9,900 Twitter followers and 11,000 Instagram followers. The team does not have a TikTok account.
The Hurricanes football team has 279,000 Twitter followers and 282,000 Instagram followers. The UM Athletics TikTok account has nearly 125,000 followers.
The sisters have already monetized their Internet celebrity. They were the first college athletes to sign NIL deals when the rule went into effect in 2021, signing deals reportedly worth tens of thousands of dollars.
Hurricanes players across several sports have signed NIL deals through booster John Ruiz’s company, LifeWallet. Ruiz posted a picture with the Cavinder sisters on April 13 and posted, ‘Welcome to the U and welcome to @LifeWallet,’ after their transfer announcement.