Ex-Temple guard in federal point-shaving inquiry

Federal authorities are investigating whether former Temple men’s basketball player Hysier Miller bet on his own games and manipulated the outcome of Owls games he played in, according to sources with direct knowledge of the situation.

Miller, Temple’s leading scorer last season, transferred to Virginia Tech during the offseason but was dismissed by the Hokies on Oct. 23 because of the federal investigation and an NCAA inquiry into Temple games, sources said. A regular-season Temple game drew attention for unusual betting activity in March.

Miller never played a game for the Hokies. The school said at the time that his dismissal was “due to circumstances prior to his enrollment at Virginia Tech.”

Asked for comment on the allegations, Miller’s attorney, Jason P. Bologna of the law firm Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney, gave ESPN a statement: “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.”

Temple spokesperson Steve Orbanek told ESPN that the school is “aware of the deeply concerning allegations of sports wagering last season.” He said the university had not “received any requests for information” from state or federal law enforcement but “will cooperate fully should we be contacted.”

The NCAA declined to comment.

In a statement, the FBI said it would neither confirm nor deny the existence of any investigation.

Sportsbooks had alerted U.S. Integrity, a Las Vegas firm that monitors the betting market, to unusual line movement and suspicious wagering patterns on a March 7 regular-season game between Temple and UAB. The point spread moved notably the morning of the game, growing from UAB -2 to -8 by early afternoon, before multiple sportsbooks halted betting on the contest. A six-point line movement on a college basketball game is rare, especially late in the season, unless there are injuries or suspensions, bookmakers and bettors say.

Thomas Gable, sportsbook director at The Borgata in Atlantic City, told ESPN in March that he began moving the line in the morning after a series of limit bets on UAB were placed. Gable said he expected injury or suspension information involving Temple but couldn’t find any reason behind the rush of action. The action continued to come in on UAB, even after the line moved, Gable said, leading The Borgata to stop betting on the game.

UAB won 100-72. Miller scored 8 points on 3-of-9 shooting and committed three turnovers.

Temple released a statement March 8 saying it was reviewing reports of suspicious betting patterns.

The NCAA has contacted people in the gambling industry in recent weeks to inquire about the Temple case, gambling industry sources told ESPN. It has been investigating Miller and the Temple games for several months, sources said.

“We have been fully responsive and cooperative with the NCAA since the moment we learned of the investigation,” Orbanek, the Temple spokesperson, told ESPN this week.

Bookmakers noticed that the same customers who bet against Temple in the UAB game had been wagering on other games involving the Owls during the season, often making wagers on the result of and the total points scored in the first half, according to gambling industry sources.

Temple finished the 2023-24 regular season at 12-19 but went on a run in the American Athletic Conference tournament before losing to UAB in the championship game. Miller averaged 27.8 points during that run.

Miller was one of Virginia Tech’s biggest offseason acquisitions from the transfer portal, and his unexpected departure left the team with a void at point guard.

The Miller case is the latest high-profile gambling investigation involving an athlete. In April, the NBA banned former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter for disclosing confidential information to bettors. Porter later pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy crime, admitting that he agreed to withdraw early from games so that co-conspirators could win bets on his statistical performance. Two of his co-conspirators have also pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.

ESPN’s Jeff Borzello, Paula Lavigne and Mark Schlabach contributed to this report.