Before Fernando Mendoza was a Heisman-winning national champion quarterback at Indiana and the 2026 NFL Draft’s No. 1 overall pick, the Miami native was having a difficult time deciding where he wanted to sign out of college football’s transfer portal during the 2025 recruiting cycle.
Ten days after announcing his decision to leave California, Mendoza was still weighing his options with Georgia, Missouri and UCLA among others in pursuit ahead of the Hoosiers’ first-round College Football Playoff loss at Notre Dame.
That’s when Mark Cuban stepped into his recruitment.
With last year’s trophy haul already out of his office, Curt Cignetti busy hunting more hardware for Indiana
John Talty
Cuban originally told CBS Sports in October 2025 that he decided to donate toward Indiana’s NIL fund during that ugly postseason setback against the Fighting Irish the previous season. Cuban was sitting in a suite with Hoosiers athletic director Scott Dolson and president Pamela Witten when the topic came up about roster building for the following campaign.
“We started talking, and he’s like, ‘We’ve got this quarterback that we really, really like and that we think would be great, we just need a little more,'” Cuban mentioned during an interview with Front Office Sports. “I’m like, ‘How much is a little bit?’ He told me, and I mentioned, okay, we’re on a roll, so I’ll put up the money to get this quarterback.”
Mendoza was a four-star transfer prospect who 247Sports ranked as the fourth-best quarterback available in the portal that cycle, after two seasons as an impact starter for the Golden Bears.
Cuban was already familiar with the Mendoza family after meeting one of his younger brothers, then-true freshman Alberto Mendoza, during a Dallas Mavericks-Miami Heat game in South Beach. Mendoza was on Indiana’s team as a backup quarterback and interacted with Cuban behind the bench during a game that season.
Fernando Mendoza signed with Indiana on Christmas Eve 2024, a few days after the Hoosiers’ season ended, and the rest is history.
Asked to reveal the exact monetary figure requested of him to fund the rest of Mendoza’s NIL salary at Indiana, Cuban pleaded the Fifth.
“They needed enough,” Cuban mentioned.
Mendoza threw for 3,535 yards, 41 touchdowns and a nation-best 182.9 passing efficiency during last season’s unblemished campaign, en route to Heisman honors and Indiana’s first national championship in program history.
Indiana’s wealthiest NIL donor and alumnus, Cuban, increased his giving during Curt Cignetti’s second season, knowing the brains behind the program’s process was delivering on his promises exactly as he envisioned. When there’s mention of ROI to investors, Indiana’s success in 2025 was it.
“The first time it was like, OK, let’s see what happens … the second time, we know it works,” Cuban mentioned in January. “I talked to them about different players and what their strategy was. The previous year, it all made sense, and I wanted to be part of it.”
The billionaire and minority NBA owner was on Indiana’s sideline for the national championship game. His 2026 donation is going toward funding a group that ranked near the top of the transfer portal, highlighted by the additions of former TCU quarterback Josh Hoover, Michigan State receiver Nick Marsh and Kansas State edge rusher Tobi Osunsanmi.
“Everybody talks about we don’t have any five-stars, but where that’s important is when they ask me for money, it was like I’m not going to give you money just so you can bid the highest for everybody,” Cuban mentioned earlier this year. “It’s like the NBA salary cap. You’ve got to be able to fit in slots and find the guys who know their roles. That’s where (Cignetti)’s been a stud. In basketball, you’ve got to know your role. Not everybody can be the star.
“Something that Fernando Mendoza mentioned about him being recruited really stood out. He mentioned when he talked about Coach Cig about winning the Heisman, he mentioned quarterbacks don’t win Heismans, teams win Heismans. If you don’t have the offensive line, the receivers, the system … you’re not going to get it done.”
