The Cavinder twins brand serves as proof of what’s possible for the next generation of entrepreneurial athletes.
There weren’t many women’s college basketball players more polarizing last year — at least until the national title game — than Haley and Hanna Cavinder. And no, we’re not just talking about the blatantly sexist story that ran in The Free Press earlier this summer.
Their fans are plenty — young girls and boys from Arizona, Fresno, Miami, and everywhere in between who see a pair of basketball players that have excelled on-court and off. Their detractors see two athletes that rose to fame on social media during the height of the pandemic and rode that wave to more media attention at the expense of more talented players.
But no matter where you fall on that spectrum, it’s impossible to deny that the past three years have seen the Cavinder twins and their brand achieve personal successes that 99.9% of college athletes could only dream of.
Now that their college days are behind them, Haley and Hanna Cavinder are ready for more.
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Beyond Basketball
The Cavinder twins helped bring the Miami Hurricanes to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament for the first time ever and to the second weekend for the first time since 1992. Because of the NCAA’s rule granting an extra year of eligibility due to COVID-19, they had the option to return for another season. Ultimately, they opted to get started with their professional careers away from the hardwood.
The Cavinders’ NIL portfolio — thick enough to stop a bullet — made Haley and Hanna’s decision to forgo a final year of college eligibility perfectly sensible to some and perhaps confounding to others. They could have continued to make thousands (or more) by spending a small portion of their time on the NIL market while they balanced school and basketball. Instead, they’ve gone all-in on business ventures.
They don’t seem to regret it one bit.
Nevertheless, it wasn’t an easy decision. Haley led the Canes in scoring in 2022-23, and the two had been playing basketball together literally their entire lives. Running it back to spend one more year living the college life in Coral Gables (while making a boatload of money in the process) would be tempting to anyone.
“Sometimes, it’s not about social media, it’s not about basketball; it’s more about other priorities in your life and family and other chapters and passions that you have,” Haley told Boardroom. “Stepping away from basketball was extremely hard, but also it came down to Hanna was done and I didn’t want to play basketball without Hanna.”
So, now that their Miami careers are over, where does that leave the Cavinders?
For now, it’s doing much of the same — building their shared brand by maintaining existing partnerships and building new ones. In other words, if you were tired of the attention they got in college, you’re not in for much of a reprieve. If you’re a loyal fan, meanwhile, you’re going to have more to cheer for.
NIL, IRL
Fortunately for the Cavinders, the last few years have served as a crash course in business, allowing them to build their net worth and acumen at the same time. Today, they are equity partners in Seoul Juice and Jake Paul’s Betr.
“Having equity in companies just allows you to see things from a different point of view,” Haley said. “If you do it the right way and you partner with companies and businesses you truly are interested in.”
They’ve also maintained relationships they’ve built over the last couple of years through NIL endorsement deals; the pair is currently working with Champs Sports on the brand’s “Always Ready” campaign. Their other NIL deals make up a long list that has included Boost Mobile (who gave them a Times Square billboard on NIL Opening Day in 2021), Raising Cane’s, Crocs, and Under Armour.
The most high-profile deal? Their partnership with WWE. The pair plans to continue working with the promotion and teased to Boardroom that more events are upcoming with them. When they went on the TODAY Show earlier this year, they even hinted that they might have careers as professional wrestlers ahead of them — but even if that’s not ultimately in the cards, there are enticing opportunities to work alongside the wrestling behemoth in an ambassadorial capacity.
Whatever they do, however, the Cavinder twins are focusing on partnerships that further their brand, one they say centers on the two of them together. Asked to define what the Cavinder Twins brand truly is, Hanna says it’s at the intersection of sports, entertainment, health, fitness, and business. That’s a wide net, but one they are set to tackle as one.
While they acknowledge there may come a time when it makes more sense for one to strike out on their own, that doesn’t appear to be in their plans here and now.
“I think that’s what’s something that separates us in the social media world and entrepreneur world,” Haley said. “I think they’re just being understanding, like, what do we bring unique into this space? And that’s us being twins. And so why not stay that way? That’s how we started.”
Who’s Got Next?
Haley and Hanna know they have millions of eyes on them and a significant number of those eyes come from young girls and boys who want to follow in their footsteps.
For those just entering college, Hanna would like to see more schools offer financial literacy classes to athletes looking to take advantage of the widening landscape of name, image, and likeness deals. Coincidentally, that’s part of the NIL regulations bill that US Senators Joe Manchin and Tommy Tuberville introduced this week on Capitol Hill.
The Cavinders learned about taxes and investing through their parents, but not everyone is fortunate enough to have influences in their lives that can provide those lessons. According to Hanna, that concept is especially important in women’s basketball. Remember: there are more than 360 Division I women’s basketball teams but just 144 total roster spots in the WNBA.
“Not a lot of girls in the basketball world get to go pro,” she said. “Just being able to profit off of your name and then build your brand and be able to focus on your endeavors after college is something that we want to show and be a part of.”
And while the Cavinders can’t visit every school and mentor every athlete, they can make a difference in their own community.
They plan on going back to their old AAU program, Arizona Elite, and sponsoring the 17U and 12U age groups. Those teams will be known as Cavinder Twins Elite — something they plan to eventually branch off into their own organization.
“We’re really excited about just opening another chapter up with basketball, through AAU basketball,” Haley said. “It was one of our favorite times, honestly, playing basketball together.”
Playing basketball together, building the brand together, and whatever comes next.
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