A former Temple basketball player has been removed from his current team amid a gambling probe.
Virginia Tech announced that transfer guard Hysier Miller is no longer with the Hokies “due to circumstances prior to his enrollment.”
The NCAA, as well as other entities, have been investigating a potential gambling scandal at Temple, according to a Sports Illustrated report. Miller was the Owls’ leading scorer last season before transferring to Virginia Tech in the spring.
Temple's March 7 game against UAB was flagged for unusual wagering by U.S. Integrity, a watchdog firm that warned sports betting operators of Temple’s market irregularities.
The Owls opened as a 1.5-point underdog, but the line quickly jumped seven points toward favored UAB as oddsmakers seemingly couldn’t set a spread bettors wouldn’t take.
The Blazers blew Temple out 100-72. Miller, who averaged 15.9 points per game last season, had an off-shooting night, connecting on just three of his nine field-goal attempts to finish with eight points, including no trips to the free-throw line. He also had three turnovers.
The American Athletic Conference later confirmed that U.S. Integrity had flagged the contest.
Not just one
Temple went through a stretch last season in which it failed to cover the spread in 10 consecutive games. SI reported in March that other Temple games had been monitored for suspicious betting activity.
In the contest before UAB, the Owls were a 5.5-point favorite but lost by five as Miller scored 19 points.
Temple rallied after the UAB loss to win five consecutive games and reached the AAC tournament final, which Temple lost 85-69 to the Blazers.
Miller scored a career-high 32 points in that title loss and finished the conference tourney averaging 19.2 points per game.
Miller announced in April he was entering the NCAA transfer portal. A few weeks later, he ended up at Virginia Tech, where he was expected to be a starter for Mike Young’s team this season.
Watchdog firm
U.S. Integrity works with several NCAA conferences as well as sports betting operators and state gaming regulators. The consulting company uses technology to help find discrepancies and abnormalities with potential insider information misuse and match-fixing.
It’s the same watchdog firm that flagged an Alabama-LSU baseball game that eventually led to the firing and NCAA punishment of former Crimson Tide coach Brad Bohannon.
U.S. Integrity’s client list also includes major professional sports leagues, including the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, PGA Tour, and UFC.
