Shrouded in mystery

Virginia Tech men’s basketball player Hysier Miller has been dismissed from the team, allegedly because of his involvement in a possible betting scandal at Temple University, where he played previously. Miller transferred to Virginia Tech earlier this year and had yet to play a game with the Hokies, as the season has not started.

Miller was nowhere to be found in an article previewing the season

A hint that something might be amiss came on Friday, when the Virginia Tech basketball program posted a video about the team’s guards on social media and Miller was not mentioned. Similarly, Miller was nowhere to be found in an article previewing the season on Virginia Tech’s official athletic website.

The school only made a brief statement Tuesday, saying Miller was “permanently released from the Virginia Tech men’s basketball program due to circumstances prior to his enrollment at Virginia Tech.”

Crazy betting line roller coaster

According to Sports Illustrated, Miller’s situation dates back to March 2024, when the NCAA began an investigation into suspicious gambling activity on Temple Owls basketball games.

Gambling monitoring company US Integrity flagged a March 7 game against the University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB) Blazers, pointing to extreme changes in the betting line. At one sportsbook, UAB was a 1.5-point favorite at the start of the day and by tipoff was a seven-point favorite. In between, the line had gotten even higher.

Miller did not have a very good game

UAB dominated on the road, winning 100-72. Miller did not have a very good game, playing 30 minutes, but only making three of nine shots (though 2-5 from three was good), finishing with eight points, one rebound, and three turnovers.

Those eight points were half his season average, but his shooting percentage was about the same for the UAB game and his three-point shooting was better. He averaged four assists per game and had none in this contest. So really, the statistics don’t really tell us much when it comes to Miller this game.

Temple also lost the game before that to Tulsa, 72-67, as a 5.5-point favorite, only leading briefly at the beginning of the game. Miller had an excellent game statistically, scoring 19 points on 6-12 shooting (5-9 from three), with three rebounds, four assists, and just one turnover.

US Integrity had its eye on Temple

While it seems like the Virginia Tech athletic department and basketball staff must have some information about Miller that is damning enough to release him from the team, it is not known to the public.

Sports Illustrated only cited the one Temple game with unusual betting and said that, according to a source, US Integrity had been watching Temple games “for a while.”

Nothing has been made public about what possible betting-related shenanigans were going on with the Temple program or how Miller was involved.

The Owls were not good last season, losing ten games in a row at one point and finishing the regular season with a 12-19 record. They did go on a Cinderella run in the conference tournament, though, making it to the finals before losing to UAB. Had they won, they would have been one of the rare teams to make the NCAA Tournament with a losing record. Miller scored 32 points in the championship game.