Temple took the court Friday night at Mohegan Sun Arena, a 10,000 seat multi-purpose venue inside one of the world’s largest tribal casinos.

The Owls faced Florida State approximately 24 hours after reports surfaced that federal authorities are investigating whether former guard Hysier Miller bet on his team’s games last season. Miller, the leading scorer at Temple in 2023-24, was dismissed from the Virginia Tech program in October before playing a single minute in a Hokies’ uniform.

UAB defeated Temple 100-72 on March 7, shortly after top sportsbooks removed the game due to anomalous betting patterns. Within hours, the line spiked six points to Blazers -8, a marker for suspicious activity. Citing unnamed sources, ESPN reported last Thursday that federal law enforcement officials are examining whether Miller manipulated the outcome of some of the games he participated in.

Beyond Temple, a bevy of college basketball programs are under investigation for gambling-related violations, according to multiple sources with familiarity of the months-long inquiry. Days after Las Vegas-based U.S. Integrity alerted casinos on the suspicious wagering, another East coast team went public with gambling violations on its campus. Following the completion of the Patriot League tournament, Loyola (Md.) announced March 8 that the school dismissed a member of the men’s basketball team for a betting violation.

The probe covers at least six Division I programs, a confidential source with direct knowledge of the investigation told Forbes SportsMoney, hours before Friday’s tipoff. The five others are characterized as mid-major programs, the source indicated last week.

As college basketball enters Feast Week, one of the most anticipated weeks of the season, it is unclear how many players are under investigation for possible point-shaving infractions. It is also unclear if a syndicate with ties to the offshore market played a role in the matter. In a year when a series of intricate gambling schemes have eroded the integrity of the domestic sports landscape, the investigation presents the latest black eye.

“We are aware of the deeply concerning allegations of sports wagering last season,” a Temple spokesperson said in a statement. “We take seriously the integrity of intercollegiate athletics as well as the education and well-being of our student-athletes. Temple is committed to doing the right thing no matter the circumstances.”

Focused on the court

Temple’s roster has undergone a major overhaul since last last season. One returnee, senior forward Steve Settle III, had 14 points in the 78-69 loss to Florida State. Temple coach Adam Fisher indicated that he had a brief team meeting on the reports concerning Miller, but his players were “locked in,” for the opener of the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic.

“My focus is on the current guys in my locker room and making sure that those guys have a great experience in the classroom and the court,” Fisher said during the postgame news conference.

Fisher expressed reticence to discuss the investigation, opting to not mention Miller by name. Following the defeat to the Seminoles, Temple beat UMass 87-80 on Saturday. Temple President John Fry did not attend the tournament, according to a team spokesman. In a letter sent to the Temple community last week, Fry noted that the school has “been fully responsive and cooperative with the NCAA since the moment we learned of the investigation.”

The NCAA declined comment. In March, however, NCAA President Charlie Baker addressed the Temple matter at the 2024 East Regional in Boston. At the time, Baker hinted that it could be months before the conclusion of the investigation. In stressing the need to be meticulous, Baker emphasized the importance of “pulling the thread as far,” as possible before making a decision. A former governor of Massachusetts, Baker made the comments one day after he issued a statement, urging additional states to enact legislation for banning prop bets on college athletes.

Miller scored eight points in the decisive loss to UAB, far below his 15.9 average. Temple rebounded to win its next five leading to a rematch with the Blazers in the AAC Championship Game. Miller ended his Owls’ career with 32 points in defeat as Temple fell 85-69. During the run, Miller flashed his all-court skills averaging 19.2 ppg, 4.2 ppg, and 4.6 apg.

During a five-hour interview with the NCAA, Miller answered a barrage of questions and produced every document requested by the association, according to Jason Bologna, his attorney.

“Hysier did these things because he wanted to play basketball this season, and he is devastated that he cannot,” Bologna wrote in a statement. “Hysier has overcome more adversity in his 22 years than most people face in their lifetime. He will meet and overcome whatever obstacles lay ahead.”

Though Miller has seven siblings, he is the first from his immediate family to attend college. He has written a book, entitled No Place Like Home, on his journey from K-12, the violence and poverty in his Philadelphia neighborhood, and how he has managed to overcome those obstacles.

Bologna did not answer whether his client wagered on college basketball or if the matter is under federal investigation. The FBI declined to comment.

Bad optics

If a college athlete is charged with match fixing, it will be the first time since the Supreme Court’s historic PASPA decision in 2018. A 2022 study in the Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance established a framework for the factors that influence point shaving in college athletes. Some of the determinants that sway decision making include: the value of civil and criminal fines, the enforcement of the violations, and the net present value of payoffs for accepting bribes.

Over the last century, point shaving in college athletics has been a recurring problem, according to Shane Sanders, the author. Two schemes, the CCNY point-shaving scandal of 1951 and one that embroiled Boston College in the late 1970s, involved deep ties with organized crime. Malcolm Huckaby, a former Eagles’ star forward, called Friday’s game for ESPN+. Huckaby attended Boston College in 1994, the same year former Arizona State guard Stevin “Hedake” Smith received thousands of dollars for shaving points.

Before arriving at Mohegan Sun, Temple lost 72-69 to Boston College on Nov. 15. The fact that Temple’s first game after the Miller reports took place in one of the world’s largest casinos is fraught with irony. Upon entering Mohegan Sun Boulevard, drivers were greeted with a revolving digital billboard with an accompanying tagline that read: “Download the Casino app here.”

The banner preceded one promoting The Hall of Fame Tip-Off, a three-day event that featured seven teams over pre-Thanksgiving weekend. Four Northeast mid majors, Fairfield, Yale, Vermont, and Delaware also took part in the event. There are no indications at the moment that those schools are embroiled in the probe, according to the source.

Home to the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun, the arena is a short stroll to the FanDuel Sportsbook, a state-of-the-art facility that features a 140-foot video wall and more than three dozen betting kiosks.

A former Temple student in his 30s attended the game, but made a small wager on the Noles. While he heard of the reports in the spring surrounding the suspicious activity, he admitted that he was unaware of last week’s update.

At a table behind, a gaggle of players from one of the teams spent about 10 minutes watching an NBA game on the big screen. None of them placed a bet before leaving the area.

Integrity concerns

Rebranded as IC360, U.S. Integrity began monitoring suspicious wagering associated with Temple weeks before the dominating win by UAB. Also in March, former Raptors’ center Jontay Porter took himself out of a game against the Kings while feigning illness. An NBA internal investigation determined that Porter manipulated his participation in at least two games to assure the outcome of a series of microbets on his performance. Porter, who received a lifetime ban from the NBA in April, is awaiting sentencing on federal wire fraud charges.

As part of its ongoing efforts to protect the integrity of competitions, the NCAA national office is working with an industry-leading integrity service provider, and remains in close contact with other integrity services, to enhance how it monitors sports betting in the global betting market. This includes pregame and in-game monitoring of regular and postseason competition, enhanced monitoring of officials, and periodic risk assessments of all competition.

These efforts with the service provider began in the 2018, with 13,000+ contests being monitored. The integrity program has since expanded, increasing the level of monitoring to 22,000+ contests per year.

Separately, the former interpreter of Shohei Ohtani is scheduled to be sentenced next month on embezzling at least $16 million from the 2024 National League MVP. Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s ex-interpreter, allegedly stole the funds to repay a massive gambling debt with an illegal California bookmaker. As the brazen scheme came to light, the Dodgers fired Mizuhara in March on the team’s trip to South Korea.

During the third quarter, Americans legally wagered $30.3 billion on sports, generating $3.24 billion in quarterly revenue, the American Gaming Association announced last week. Over the first nine months of the year, gross gaming revenues on the legal market have approached $10 billion, $9.96 billion to be exact. The amount represents an increase of 33.6% from the year-ago quarter.

Prior to March Madness, AGA models estimated that Americans planned to wager approximately $2.7 billion on the 2024 men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments. The figure is just below the franchise valuations of the lower rung of NBA teams. Since the transformative decision by the Supreme Court, the explosion in sports betting has brought millions to pro sports leagues and the NCAA through a surge in advertising revenue and commercial partnerships.