Twin sisters and social media sensations Haley and Hanna Cavinder will be in the spotlight as the Miami Hurricanes seek to pull off another March Madness stunner.
The 22-year-old Cavinder twins have 4.5 million followers on a joint TikTok account and over a million cumulatively on Instagram, and they are formidable on the basketball court.
Hailing from South Bend, In., Haley and Hanna Cavinder began in college at Fresno State and were both All-Mountain West players.
Last offseason, the twins transferred to Miami, where their recruitment eventually became enmeshed in controversy.
Billionaire Miami booster John Ruiz, who is known to lavish Hurricane athletes with massive NIL deals to endorse his businesses, hosted the twins for dinner at his home and was daring enough to tweet about it.
A lawyer for the Cavinder twins told The Post that they’d already made $1 million in 2022 NIL deals in June. Instagram / Haley and Hanna Cavinder
Haley and Hanna Cavinder were all-Mountain West players at Fresno State. Instagram / Haley and Hanna CavinderThe NCAA ultimately deemed this dinner to constitute “impermissible contact.”
Anticipating penalties for helping facilitate the meeting, Miami head coach Katie Meier served a three-game suspension and the program got hit with other minor penalties.
For their part, the Cavinder twins responded the best way they know how — by mocking the NCAA on TikTok.
All told, the sisters have had a number of NIL deals, including Victoria’s Secret, Boost Mobile, WWE and John Ruiz’s LifeWallet.
Haley and Hanna Cavinder transferred to Miami from Fresno State. Instagram / Haley and Hanna Cavinder
Haley and Hanna Cavinder have had NIL deals with WWE, Victoria’s Secret and Boost Mobile. Instagram / Haley and Hanna CavinderIn June, attorney Darren Heitner told The Post’s Kirsten Fleming that the sisters had already grossed over $1 million in NIL deals less than halfway through 2022.
“A lot of people like to let us know about it,” Haley Cavinder told The Post in June about what they hear from the haters of their social media prowess. “But we’ll see them on the court.”
“People forget that before COVID happened, and before we blew up on TikTok, we were just basketball players trying to get a college scholarship together and achieve our goals.
The Cavinder twins have 4.5 million followers on TikTok. TikTok / Cavinder Twins
Haley and Hanna Cavinder’s recruitment to Miami was controversial. Instagram / Haley and Hanna Cavinder“Basketball has always been the main thing.”
On Monday, Miami stunned no. 1 seed Indiana in Bloomington to reach the Sweet 16, where they play at Villanova on Friday afternoon.
In the final minute, Haley Cavinder nailed two clutch free throws — and shushed the Indiana crowd.
“The ‘stick to Tik Tok’ chants go crazy,” the twins wrote on TikTok. “Sweet 16 us.”
