Haley Cavinder — a former college basketball player at the University of Miami and one-half of the Cavinder twins social media dynasty — has announced that she's coming out of basketball retirement and transferring to Texas Christian.
Cavinder made the announcement Monday on her Instagram page, where she currently has 748,000 followers. It showed three pictures of her in a TCU jersey, wearing a crown, sitting on a gold throne and posing with a platinum TCU basketball — all of which came with the caption "the last rodeo #committed." It was a fitting reintroduction for college basketball's social media queen.
The announcement came as a surprise, since Cavinder and her twin sister, Hanna, proclaimed their retirement from basketball after leading the University of Miami to the Elite Eight in last year's NCAA Tournament (where they lost to LSU, the eventual national champions) in order to become full-time influencers.
The Cavinder twins' retirement was largely because Hanna was burnt out with basketball. On their "Twin Talk" podcast, Haley revealed that, "We got in a fight, if you really want to know the tea, and I was like, 'Hanna, I'm going back,' and she was like, 'I'm not going back, I'm not doing it anymore.'"
At least one Cavinder isn't content to call it quits quite yet.
Although Cavinder isn't eligible to play until the 2024-25 season, TCU must be stoked about her commitment. Don't let the looks and social media presence fool you: Haley Cavinder can hoop. She spent the first three years of her collegiate career at Fresno State, averaging 18.4 points, 8.1 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game. She then contributed 12.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game during her one season as a starting guard for Miami.
Haley Cavinder's return to the college basketball spotlight is also good news for the brands she has NIL (name/image/likeness) deals with: Raising Cane's, Champs Sports, and World Wrestling Entertainment.
Why did Cavinder choose TCU? One belief is that she did so in part because she's rumored to be dating Jake Ferguson, currently a Dallas Cowboys tight end, and transferring to a Texas school would bring the couple closer together.
Regardless of why Cavinder decided on TCU, she'll now turn her focus toward the 2024-25 season, when she'll be joining forces with TCU forward Sedona Prince in hopes of leading the Horned Frogs to postseason success. Or, if not that, then at least a lot of social media exposure.
