Virginia Tech Transfer Hysier Miller Dismissed From Hoops Team Over Betting Probe

Posted on: October 24, 2024, 09:09h. 

Last updated on: October 24, 2024, 09:46h.

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Virginia Tech basketball transfer Hysier Miller has been “permanently dismissed” from the Hokies’ hoops program.

Virginia Tech basketball Hysier Miller Temple
Former Temple Owls basketball star Hysier Miller has been dismissed by his team before ever playing a minute. Virginia Tech says Miller has been dismissed “due to circumstances prior to his enrollment.” (Image: The Philadelphia Inquirer)

Miller’s dismissal before he even suited up for the first time in Blacksburg since arriving from Temple is reportedly related to his role in an alleged game-fixing scandal that took place while he played last season for the Owls in the American Athletic Conference.

Sports Illustrated broke the news of Miller’s dismissal. VT officials later confirmed the report.

Temple transfer point guard Hysier Miller has been permanently released from the Virginia Tech men’s basketball program due to circumstances prior to his enrollment at Virginia Tech. There will be no further comment by the university on this matter,” a statement from Virginia Tech read.

A Philly native, Miller was Temple’s leading scorer last year with 15.9 points, 4.0 assists, and 3.6 rebounds per game. Though the Owls struggled in the regular season, going 12-19 overall and 5-13 in conference play, the team made a Cinderella story run in the AAC tournament where they won four straight before losing in the championship game to the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Blazers 85-69.

Sports Betting Investigation

The 2023-24 Temple Owls basketball team has been under investigation by a prominent sports betting integrity monitor for months.

U.S. Integrity is the AAC’s partnered sports betting integrity supervisor. The Las Vegas-based firm monitors sports betting markets for suspicious activity that could indicate fraud, match-fixing, and game manipulation.

SI reports that U.S. Integrity began more closely monitoring Temple games last season after the company detected several instances of suspicious line movements.

During Temple’s March 7 regular-season game against UAB, the Blazers opened as a 1.5-point favorite at one sportsbook U.S. Integrity was keeping tabs on. After a rush of money came in on Temple to lose, the line shifted nearly 10 points in a single day before slightly shortening to make UAB a seven-point favorite by tipoff.

Temple’s 100-72 blowout loss saw Miller score just eight points — almost half of his season average. He took just nine shots, five of which came from behind the three-point line.

Temple’s dismal performance against UAB came after the Owls were favored to win by 5.5 points over the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes but lost by seven to fall short of covering the spread by more than 12 points.

When media reports broke the news in March that U.S. Integrity was investigating the March 2 and March 7 Owls games for possible match-fixing, a Temple statement said the school takes “this matter very seriously.”

2024-25 Consequences

Miller was expected to start for the Hokies this year at guard and bring the team a valuable scoring weapon.

VT coach Mike Young hopes to return the Hokies to March Madness after a down year where the team went 10-10 in Atlantic Coast Conference play. VT lost in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) to Ohio State.

VT’s odds of winning the NCAA men’s basketball championship this season are at 250/1.

NCAA rules dictate that a student-athlete who throws or purposely alters a game for sports betting reasons is subject to a permanent loss of collegiate eligibility in all sports.