Mark Cuban’s first donation to his alma mater’s athletic department led to historic results for the Hoosiers football program.
Mark Cuban had one of the biggest assists in Indiana’s run to the national championship.
In December 2024, Cuban, one of the Hoosiers’ wealthiest alumni, was at IU’s first-round College Football Playoff game against Notre Dame, which the Fighting Irish won 27–17. In the middle of the game, the former Mavericks majority owner found himself talking to athletic director Scott Dolson, a fellow IU alum, and university president, Pam Whitten.
The conversation would lead to Cuban opening his wallet for the most important player in program history: Heisman Trophy–winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza.
“The first thing I said to Scott was, ‘Well, at least this year you’re not having to look for another football coach,’” Cuban told FOS in a forthcoming episode of Portfolio Players. “Because that was kind of a time-honored tradition in Indiana, always looking for a football coach. And so he’s like, ‘Yeah, that’s the positive.’”
