Haley and Hanna Cavinder will forgo their final year of eligibility at Miami and WWE appears to be in their future.
The Cavinder Twins appear to be taking their talents to WWE. The pair teased a turn to wrestling Thursday on the Today Show, lending support to what many suspected when they announced earlier this week they would forgo their final year of college eligibility.
“We’re very excited about the future with them,” Haley Cavinder said on the show.
Haley and Hanna Cavinder, fresh off leading the Miami Hurricanes to a surprise Elite Eight appearance in March Madness, have one year of eligibility remaining at Coral Cables. While they didn’t say it explicitly, deciding to leave now — after the WNBA Draft and with no hints about the transfer portal — sure seemed to point to their college careers being over.
WWE is a natural next step for the Cavinder twins. They were among the first WWE Next In Line class, announced when NIL first came into effect in 2021. The program was designed to “recruit and develop potential future Superstars and further [enhance] the WWE’s talent development process,” according to a release at the time. While there was no formal obligation for the Cavinders — or any other Next in Line member — to join WWE after college, the program gave them the opportunity to explore it as a future pathway.
The Cavinders began their collegiate careers at Fresno State, both earning All-Mountain West honors. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, they turned to TikTok to pass the time. Their massive following then catapulted them into the NIL picture in the summer of 2021. After another season with the Bulldogs, the pair transferred up, joining Miami amid some controversy and what was surely a hefty bag from John Ruiz and Life Wallet. This season, Haley Cavinder led the Hurricanes in scoring (12.2 ppg) while shooting 40% from 3 and 88% from the line. Hanna Cavinder played in 34 games off the bench, averaging 3.8 points over just under 17 minutes per game.
On the WWE side, the company could replace one set of twins with another, just a month after the Bella Twins (now known as Brie and Nikki Garcia) ended their 16-year WWE careers. We don’t know if the Cavinders will stick around quite that long, but they’ll have plenty of professional opportunities regardless.