Cavinder twins won't return at Miami for fifth season

Twins Haley Cavinder and Hanna Cavinder of the Miami Hurricanes have been through it all together, from their basketball journeys to navigating profound fame amid the new NIL landscape in college sports.

That's why when it came time to decide whether to use the fifth year of collegiate eligibility that was granted to athletes amid the COVID-19 pandemic, they ultimately decided to go out as they came in — together.

The 22-year-old twins, who helped Miami's magical run to the Elite Eight last month as a No. 9 seed and are among the biggest beneficiaries of recent rules and legislation allowing college athletes to profit from name, image and likeness, have decided to forgo their extra year of eligibility to pursue life after basketball.

They made the announcement Tuesday on social media.

A post shared by Hanna Cavinder (@hanna.cavinder)

Haley told ESPN on Tuesday that she anticipated throughout this year that she'd come back for a fifth season, but after it became clear that Hanna was ready to move on, Haley ultimately realized she didn't want to play without her twin.

«I don't want to play basketball without Hanna,» Haley said in a joint interview via Zoom from the twins' hometown of Gilbert, Arizona. «I started with her, so at the end of the day, I want to end basketball and start our new lives together, but it was definitely difficult for me.»

Hanna said she started to «develop different passions for different things» throughout this season.

«You grow and learn as a person throughout the year,» Hanna said. «I'm ready to take the next chapter in my life and to explore that. We have exciting things coming, so I'm really excited for the next chapter with Haley. We were going to make it work regardless.… I just wanted Haley