Mark Cuban had a long history of contributing to Indiana University, but he hadn’t given much to IU sports. That changed, he said, as the Hoosiers pursued quarterback Fernando Mendoza.
“It all started, really, at the Notre Dame playoff game the year before, when we were losing,” Cuban told Front Office Sports, “and I was in the suite with the AD Scott Dolson and (president) Pam Witten, and we sucked (in that game). We were getting blown out from the beginning.”
IU scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to make the final score 27-17.
“First thing I said to Scott was, ‘Well, at least this year you’re not having to look for another football coach, because that was kind of a time-honored tradition at Indiana.”
Hoosiers coach Curt Cignetti had elevated the program from usual afterthought into the College Football Playoff in his first season.
Then Dolson told Cuban where the team stood in recruiting.
“He’s like, ‘We’ve got this quarterback that we really, really like that we think would be great. We just need a little bit more,” Cuban said. “I asked, ‘How much is a little bit?’ And so he told me, and I said, ‘OK, we’re on a roll, so I’ll put up the money to get this quarterback.'”
Cuban had a connection to the Mendoza family, saying he had talked with Alberto Mendoza, who was already on the IU roster, at Miami Heat games when Cuban’s Dallas Mavericks visited.
FOS asked Cuban how much he chipped in to get Fernando Mendoza.
“They needed … enough, yeah,” Cuban said with a smile.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Mark Cuban says he ‘put up the money’ to get Indiana football quarterback Fernando Mendoza
Reporting by Scott Horner, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
