Former college basketball players Haley and Hanna Cavinder have earned at least $2 million since the Supreme Court forced the NCAA to change its NIL policy — prompting critics to note that they’re cashing in on their good looks rather than their abilities on the court.
Victoria Jackson, a former professional runner, told The Free Press news site that she thinks that the Cavinder twins are being showered with cash due to their “sexiness and attractiveness,” which is “unfair” to other women athletes who are more competent in their sports.
The twins, who recently graduated from the University of Miami, were not known for their on-court prowess.
Haley Cavinder averaged just over 12 points, five rebounds, and a little over two assists in her just-completed senior season with the Hurricanes.
Her sister, Hanna, averaged a little under four points per game in just 16 minutes of play.
But that hasn’t stopped them from raking in big bucks endorsement deals with the likes of sports gambling app Betr, sports nutrition maker Bucked Up, and soft drink brand Dr. Pepper.
The twins frequently post social media images and videos showing them working out and frolicking in their swimsuits.
On Instagram, they have 261,000 followers — which pales in comparison to the 4.5 million TikTok users who watch their videos.
The top women’s college basketball players, such as Louisiana State University’s Angel Reese, who averaged 23 points during her just-completed season, earn less.
Jackson said that it was not uncommon for women who are blessed with good looks to score endorsements that are simply unavailable for those who excel in their craft but are deemed less attractive by the wider public.
“You would notice that somebody would get a big deal when she was middling, at best, and happened to be good-looking, and a woman who was making Olympic teams and winning national championships was having a hard time getting shoe deals,” Jackson told The Free Press.
On the men’s side, athletes such as USC quarterback Caleb Williams and University of Colorado cornerback Travis Hunter are rewarded for their on-field stardom.
Williams has reportedly pocketed $2.6 million from NIL deals while Hunter is said to have netted $1.6 million.
“If you look at the NIL girls, the first ones who were getting deals were the blonde girls,” sports historian Louis Moore told The Free Press, citing the Cavinder twins for their “very blonde, girl-next-door looks.”
The twins acknowledge that they’re in a position of “privilege.”
“Obviously, everyone brings something different to the table. I think that all women should be empowered in a male-dominant world, especially minorities,” Haley Cavinder told the news site.
“I mean, obviously, yes, this is a touchy subject, but I think that we are privileged, in a way,” Hanna Cavinder said.
“Obviously, we don’t deal with the same things that other women deal with or other people deal with, and that’s just how our world is, and it’s awful.”
The attorneys who beat the NCAA in the Supreme Court have filed a new class-action antitrust lawsuit against the association and the five wealthiest college sports conferences that seeks millions of dollars in damages for thousands of athletes.
The case was filed Tuesday — the day after the NCAA Tournament concluded — in the Northern District of California, where several other landmark cases involving college sports have been heard.
The plaintiffs are listed as former Oklahoma State running back Chuba Hubbard, who is currently with the Carolina Panthers, and former Auburn track athlete Keira McCarrell, but the lawsuit seeks triple damages for all current and former Division I athletes as far back as 2018.
The defendants named in the lawsuit are the NCAA, the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and Southeastern Conference.
A 2019 ruling by a federal judge in the so-called Alston case against the NCAA made it permissible for schools to provide nearly $6,000 in academic benefits to college athletes.
The original lawsuit brought by former West Virginia running back Shawne Alston challenged the NCAA’s right to cap compensation to Division I football and basketball players at the value of a scholarship.
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