Horned Frogs Sign Miami Transfer Cavinder for 2024-25 Season
TCU won the ultimate mid-season transfer portal prize, signing former Miami guard Haley Cavinder on Tuesday.
Cavinder, a four-time all-conference point guard and among college sports’ top social media influencers, will complete her fifth-and-final year of eligibility in 2024-25.
A second team all-ACC selection last season, Cavinder averaged 12.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game to lead Miami to its first-ever Elite Eight appearance. Cavinder, 5-6, led the Hurricanes in scoring, minutes per game (30.9), 3-point field goal percentage (.404) and free throw percentage (.878).
Cavinder has started 122 of her 124 career games played at point guard. She has averaged 16.7 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game between her year-long stint in Coral Gables and three-year all-conference tenure at Fresno State. Cavinder concluded the 2022-23 campaign as one of just 25 active collegians to score 2,000 career points.
Her third collegiate season was nothing short of historic. She averaged 19.8 points and 9.5 rebounds per game for Fresno State, becoming the third player in Mountain West history to lead the conference in scoring and rebounding. Cavinder also set an NCAA record for free throw percentage (.973), canning 109-112 attempts at the charity stripe, and became the 20th player in NCAA history to record three triple-doubles in a season. She ranked 10th among all Division I players in defensive rebounds (234) and 15th in assists per game (5.7)
Cavinder was crowned Mountain West Conference Player of the Year as a sophomore in 2020-21. She was the conference’s third second-year player to ever win its top annual honor. Cavinder led the conference in scoring (19.8 ppg) for the second consecutive season. Nationally, she ranked sixth in total minutes (1026:50), ninth in field goal attempts (479) and 18th in total points (554).
She burst on to the national radar in 2019-20, taking home Mountain West Freshman of the Year honors. She broke Fresno State’s freshman records for most points (512) and most rebounds (233) in a season. Cavinder led the team and finished second in the conference in points per game (16.0 ppg), total points (512) and made field goals (189). She also earned the distinction of being one of just nine players in the country to average at least 16 points, seven rebounds and three assists per game, and was both the lone freshman and player under 5-10 to accomplish the feat.
The COVID-19 cancellation of the 2019-20 postseason cut Cavinder’s freshman season short. It was also the time when she became nothing short of a social media celebrity.
During the pandemic, Cavinder and her twin sister, Hanna, whom she played with at Fresno State and Miami, augmented their audience on TikTok to the tune of its current tally of 4.5 million followers. Their joint account is the second-most followed among all college athletes. Cavinder announced her verbal commitment to play for TCU and head coach Mark Campbell to more than 700,000 Instagram followers. She capped the 2022-23 season with an NCAA women’s basketball-leading NIL valuation of $835,000.
Cavinder initially opted to retire from college basketball in April after her twin announced she was ready to move on from the sport. In October, Cavinder entered the transfer portal, opting to utilize the COVID-19 eligibility waiver.
Cavinder’s pledge marks the fourth straight season in which Campbell has plucked a graduate student point guard from the transfer portal. Campbell inked eventual Big Sky MVP’s Kahlaijah Dean (2023) and Lianna Tillman (2022) during his tenure at Sacramento State, then pried Jaden Owens away from Baylor in May.
Originally from Gilbert, Arizona, Cavinder was named the state’s 5A Player of the Year as a senior at Gilbert High School. She averaged 21.8 points, 8.9 rebounds and 6.5 assists per outing that season and was tabbed the nation’s No. 27 guard in the class of 2019 in the ESPN HoopGurlz recruiting rankings
About The Author
Leave a Reply