NCAA Maintains Ban on Athlete Betting After Rule Reversal Effort

The NCAA's long-standing prohibition on college athletes betting on any sport in which it sponsors a championship will remain in place after Division I schools met the two-thirds threshold required to rescind a proposed policy change. 

Student-athletes won't soon be able to bet at the best sports betting sites.

The deadline for submitting rescission paperwork was last Friday, and the NCAA confirmed that member institutions reached the necessary 241 votes to halt the rule change. According to a statement, the reversal followed a procedural 30-day period triggered when less than 75% of the governing cabinet supported the initial proposal.

The policy would have allowed student-athletes and athletics department staff to wager on professional sports, a shift the NCAA had argued reflected the expansion of legal sports betting in 38 states and its accessibility to non-athlete students. However, the ban will remain intact across all three NCAA divisions. A source indicated the vote reached the two-thirds mark roughly 30 minutes before the deadline.

For years, the NCAA has defended its position as a necessary guardrail to protect game integrity and shield athletes and staff from potential manipulation or harassment. 

Over the past month, federal authorities arrested two MLB players along with several NBA and coaching figures in unrelated gambling cases. 

The governing body also recently banned six basketball players for game-fixing, and an NCAA study released this week reported that 36% of Division I men's basketball players had experienced social media harassment from bettors. 

Meanwhile, the NBA and MLB have asked partner sportsbooks to limit prop bets considered vulnerable to manipulation, and NCAA President Charlie Baker has urged operators to remove prop markets on college athletes. 

In 14 states, such wagers are now prohibited, and a new NCAA partnership with Genius Sports will require sportsbooks to eliminate individual performance bets to access real-time statistics during championship events.

Former Temple guard permanently banned

The NCAA's decision came as further details emerged about one of the most serious betting violations involving a college athlete. Hysier Miller, a former guard with the Temple Owls, has been declared permanently ineligible after investigators determined he made 42 bets worth $473 on parlays on 23 Temple games across the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. 

Miller, who started every game for the program during those two seasons, used sportsbook accounts registered to others to place bets. During an interview with NCAA enforcement staff on Oct. 10, 2024, he acknowledged betting on Temple games. Still, he said he could not recall wagering against his team or the full extent of his activity. 

His attorney stated that investigators found no evidence of point shaving and noted that Miller cooperated fully throughout the process.

The case coincided with violations involving former Temple staff members Camren Wynter and Jaylen Bond, who bet on professional and collegiate sports. Neither placed wagers on Temple games, but both received one-year show-cause penalties and suspensions covering 10% of regular-season contests in their subsequent coaching roles. 

The NCAA said the three matters were unrelated.