Cavinder twins rack up stats, NIL dollars at Fresno State
Haley and Hanna Cavinder saw their season end unceremoniously Sunday when Fresno State blew a 14-point fourth-quarter lead and lost to Utah State 80-75 in the first round of the Mountain West women’s basketball tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center.
While the Bulldogs fell short of expectations, it was a successful junior season on and off the floor for the star twins.
Haley Cavinder led the Bulldogs in points (19.3 per game), rebounds (9.6) and assists (5.7) to make the all-conference team. Hanna was second on the team in all three categories, and they also were tops in minutes and steals.
The only things more impressive than their statistics were their endorsement deals and followers on social media.
Perhaps no athletes in the country took better advantage of the new NCAA rules allowing them to profit off their name, image and likeness. The 21-year-old twins, who went to high school outside Phoenix, were in New York to sign their first deals at midnight July 1, the day the rules went into effect.
What started as a hobby making TikTok dance videos during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic became an empire, with the two reportedly making about $1 million in deals with brands such as Boost Mobile, Six Star Nutrition, Champs, Eastbay and World Wrestling Entertainment.
Through it all, they remained leaders of a young Bulldogs team that finished 11-18.
“There’s been so many positives to it,” Fresno State coach Jaime White said. “I can be extremely honest in that I’ve not seen that it’s affected our team in any way. And I’m proud of them and what they’ve done and how they’ve gone about it. They’ve been very professional, and they’ve thought about their teammates in a lot of ways.”
Neither Haley nor Hanna Cavinder was made available after Sunday’s loss, which would have propelled them into a matchup with top-seeded UNLV on Monday.
Haley Cavinder had 21 points, seven rebounds and six assists, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a 22-for-22 effort by Utah State at the free-throw line as the Aggies (11-18) closed the game on a 13-2 run spurred by a relentless press to advance to play the Lady Rebels.
“If we come in like that tomorrow, anything can happen, and I believe in these girls and they believe in us,” Utah State coach Kayla Ard said. “We’re looking forward to it. It’s going to be a challenge. They are a good team. But right now, we’re a pretty dang good team, too.”
They were good enough Sunday to end the season of the Cavinders, who were under a constant spotlight this season for their play on the floor and their fame off it.
It will be a learning process for players and coaches to deal with the new realities of the sport, White said.
“It’s put a lot of pressure on them, and that’s something as our student-athletes get more popular in that way, we as coaches and administration need to support them and help them kind of navigate through that,” she said.
In Sunday’s other games:
■ San Diego State 65, Boise State 56: Freshman Asia Avinger scored 18 points for the seventh-seeded Aztecs (15-15), who shot 42 percent while making 13 of 23 3-point tries. Sophia Ramos added 11 points and 10 rebounds for San Diego State, which next faces second-seeded New Mexico (23-8) at 6 p.m. Monday in a quarterfinal. Anna Ostlie scored 15 points for the 10th-seeded Broncos (8-21), who trailed 25-23 at halftime and 42-38 entering the fourth quarter.
■ Colorado State 82, San Jose State 43: McKenna Hofschild had 16 points and eight assists for the sixth-seeded Rams (19-10), who shot 51 percent while making 9 of 19 3-point tries. Upe Otsou scored a game-best 17 points for Colorado State, which next faces third-seeded Wyoming (15-11) at 8:30 p.m. Monday in a quarterfinal. Ella Ogier had 16 points for the 11th-seeded Spartans (5-25), who shot 24 percent while missing 23 of 27 3-point tries.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.
