Former Temple basketball player Hysier Miller is under federal investigation related to his alleged involvement in an illegal sports betting scheme, according to an ESPN report.
Miller transferred to Virginia Tech in the offseason but was dismissed by the school before playing a game “due to circumstances prior to his enrollment.”
According to ESPN, federal interest in Miller began after legal sports betting operators alerted monitors to suspicious betting tied to a regular-season game between Temple and UAB last year.
Temple acknowledges sports betting reports
Temple University President Jason Wingard acknowledged the reports in a letter to students and faculty on Thursday.
“I have been made aware of media reports about a former Temple basketball student-athlete, detailing a federal investigation into sports wagering activities,” Wingard wrote. “While it is disappointing to see Temple mentioned in this context, we know that it is not representative of our athletics program.”
The games in question
The investigation stems from a March 7 game between Temple and UAB. According to ESPN, unusually large wagers on UAB caused the point spread to move significantly, to -8 from -2, in the hours leading up to tipoff. Multiple sportsbooks flagged the game to the betting monitor service US Integrity and pulled the game from their offerings.
UAB won the game in a 100-72 blowout. Miller finished with eight points on 3-of-9 shooting and three turnovers. The next day, Temple issued a statement saying it was reviewing reports of unusual betting patterns.
Bookmakers told ESPN that many of the same bettors who wagered heavily on UAB in that game had been placing large bets on Temple games throughout the season, focusing on first-half point spreads and totals.
Miller’s lawyer issues statement
In a statement to ESPN, Miller’s attorney Jason P. Bologna said, “Hysier Miller has overcome more adversity in his 22 years than most people face in their lifetime. He will meet and overcome whatever obstacles lay ahead.”
Miller averaged 15.9 points per game, shooting 35% from the field with 2.1 turnovers per game in his final season with Temple. He earned All-Tournament honors in the ACC after averaging 27.8 points in Temple’s run to the conference championship game. He was also named the Big 5 Most Improved Player that season.
Illegal sports betting in the news
This investigation is the latest in a series of high-profile gambling scandals to affect US sports since the expansion of legal betting.
In April, the NBA banned former Toronto Raptor Jontay Porter after he admitted to manipulating games and sharing insider information with bettors.
In college sports, authorities arrested former LSU football player Kayshon Boutte on suspicion of illegal sports betting in January, though prosecutors dropped the charges earlier this year. Meanwhile, former Iowa baseball players are suing over an investigation that accused 41 of them of betting on their own games.
Miller’s case marks the first public gambling investigation in college basketball in the legal sports betting era. However, the sport has a long history of point-shaving controversies going back decades, most famously the 1950s CCNY scandal and Boston College’s scheme in the late 1970s involving organized crime.
