Hanna Cavinder and Haley Cavinder arrive on the red carpet before the 2023 ESPYS at the Dolby Theatre. Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Social media star Haley Cavinder returns to college basketball, chooses TCU

By Andrew Kulha | Last updated Nov 13, 2023 6:45 PM ET

Former Miami Hurricanes point guard Haley Cavinder will be playing college basketball in 2024-25 for the TCU Horned Frogs.

Cavinder is one-half of the star social media duo known as "The Cavinder Twins." She and her twin sister, Hanna Cavinder, made a name for themselves on the court at Miami in 2022-23 but made an even bigger name for themselves on TikTok and Instagram. So much so that they made millions of dollars in NIL deals and even went as far as to leave college basketball in order to pursue the business world — where they have so far been extremely successful.

The problem? At least for Haley, it seems as if she wasn't yet ready to give up hoops for full-time business.

“I think ending it with Hanna and announcing that we were done and not going to take our fifth year, I felt — honestly, to be very transparent — a lot of pressure,” Haley told Forbes, which reported that the decision was driven more by Hanna.

the last rodeo #committed pic.twitter.com/ob1i6H9G8S
— Haley Cavinder (@CavinderHaley) November 13, 2023

"There was nothing filling the love for the game, and I just truly was like, I know I'm going to regret it down the road if I don't go back,” she continued.

That pressure was alleviated, for Haley, with the realization that she could exercise her final year of eligibility at the college level. From there, it was TCU that made the most sense.

“I'm just looking at a place where we can go and I can be impactful,” Haley said. “I want to win. Obviously with Miami, we got deep into the tournament and it was the best feeling ever. I think that I want to go somewhere and win for my fifth year, be impactful and just lead my team.”

Haley played her first three college basketball seasons at Fresno State before transferring to Miami for 2022-23. In 35 games played with 35 starts, she averaged 12.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists for the Hurricanes.

She will sit out this season but is expected to be a big part of TCU's women's basketball team in 2024.

Andrew Kulha

Andrew Kulha is probably the only sports writer you know who also doubles as a mortician. Spooky! @KulhaSports

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