It would appear that Haley Cavinder’s college basketball career isn’t over
Haley Cavinder’s college basketball career may not be over just yet.
Per The Associated Press’ Tim Reynolds, Cavinder — famous in part because of her and her twin sister Hanna Cavinder’s success in NIL endeavors — has entered the NCAA transfer portal with the intention to leave the University of Miami and play an additional season of women’s college basketball.
Haley Cavinder, who spent last season at Miami and helped the Hurricanes reach the Elite Eight, has entered the transfer portal, per source. She has one year of eligibility left, presuming this year is considered her redshirt.
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) October 13, 2023
The report caught many by surprise, as the Cavinder twins announced in April that they were going to forgo their remaining year of eligibility and pursue a career in the WWE, per USA Today.
That announcement itself was surprising, after Haley Cavinder told The Associated Press the month prior that she intended to use up all of her eligibility, while her sister expressed her desire to retire from the sport.
“I love basketball,” Hanna Cavinder said. “I ride or die basketball. I’ve given basketball so much of my life. And sometimes I’m like, ‘I just want to breathe.’ I really just want to breathe. I want to live. I don’t want to be on a plan. I don’t want to be on a schedule. But at the end of the day, I’m so competitive in life that I don’t know if I’m going to regret it or not.”
This past August, Haley Cavinder revealed on the twins’ podcast, “Twin Talk,” that her sister Hanna had pushed her to retire.
“We made it to the Elite Eight. That was Hanna and I’s goal,” Haley said. “Hanna didn’t want to play, so she made me quit basketball.”
She then added, “As a college athlete, you miss so much of your family, your life,” Haley said. “We wanted to just play four years, and we’ve always dreamed of starting our businesses and starting a company and take this route.”
“The burnout, too,” Hanna said. “I’m not gonna do something that I’m not going to 100% of my all to. If I chose to go back, that wouldn’t be right. I wouldn’t be fully satisfied.”
Haley Cavinder’s return to college basketball isn’t surprising when it comes to on-court performance and productivity, though.
She was an All-ACC second team performer last season, and averaged 12.2 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, starting all 35 games.
She led the Hurricanes in scoring (12.2), 3-point field goal percentage (min. 50 attempts) (.404), free throw percentage (.878) and minutes per game (30.9) and ranked second on the team in total assists (86) and rebounds per game (4.9).
For her career, Haley Cavinder ranks 19th among active Division I players in career points (2,065) and 10th in career free-throw percentage (.859) and is one of 25 active Division I players to score 2,000 career points.
