Mark Cuban knows a big moment when he sees one.
The 67-year-old billionaire was the governor and majority owner of the Dallas Mavericks when they won an NBA championship in 2011. He has witnessed and been part of other special events in his career. But last Friday, as he stood inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta and watched his Indiana Hoosiers punch their ticket to the College Football Playoff national championship, this particular moment unfolding before him was still hard to believe.
“Unreal,” Cuban wrote in an email to The Athletic. “I get the chills just thinking about it.”
Indiana’s rise under second-year head coach Curt Cignetti, who has taken the Hoosiers from perennial Big Ten afterthought to national contender, has stunned even one of its most famous alums. Cignetti has posted a 26-2 record over the past two seasons, vaulting Indiana football into one of the most captivating stories in sports.
Cuban, the former Dallas Mavericks majority owner and a prominent Indiana booster and alumnus, says he’s never seen anything comparable.
“None,” Cuban wrote. “He literally has turned the concept of ‘Blue Blood’ programs on its head. Cig’s line of ‘production over potential’ says it all. Some people might not like this analogy, but it’s far more like building a professional organization, but with limits on how long a player can stay. There is nothing like it anywhere. Coach, (IU athletic director) Scott Dolson and their staff have figured it out.”
Mark Cuban has increased his financial contributions to Indiana as the Hoosiers’ rise continues. (Grace Hollars / Imagn Images)
Cuban’s belief in the Hoosiers goes beyond his vocal support for the team. The Class of 1981 alum has upped his contributions to the football program, though he’s quick to distinguish between ownership and support — even in the name, image and likeness era.
“Being an owner brings a lot of responsibility,” Cuban wrote. “I’m more like someone who cares enough to help something that is important to me, and IU fans everywhere. When I ran the Mavs, I always said I was responsible for the bills, but it was Mavs fans everywhere who owned the team. It’s IU fans that make this run so special.”
Hoo Hoo Hoosiers !!! Let’s Gooooo!!!@IndianaUniv @IUHoosiers @IUBloomington
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) October 11, 2025
That shared sense of Hoosier pride is felt inside NBA locker rooms as well.
Less than an hour before the Golden State Warriors faced the Sacramento Kings last Friday night, a different game, almost 2,500 miles away, had players’ attention.
As Cuban watched up close in Atlanta, Warriors center and 2023 Indiana alum Trayce Jackson-Davis watched the game from a nearby laptop in the Warriors’ locker room. Jackson-Davis, who spent four years on the Indiana men’s basketball team before being selected in the second round of the 2023 NBA Draft, still can’t quite believe what he’s seeing.
“It’s amazing to be able to call that my school,” Jackson-Davis told The Athletic.
As the Hoosiers built a 35-7 lead over Oregon by halftime that night, one of Jackson-Davis’ teammates got into the spirit.
“Trayce,” veteran guard Gary Payton II calls out from nearby. “Can I get a Hoosier Daddy?”
“You can get a Hoo — Hoo — Hoooooosiers!” Jackson-Davis responded.
For the affable 25-year-old, the Hoosiers’ transformation under Cignetti, whom he met when Cignetti was first hired, still feels surreal.
“This was, I think, at the time he took over, the losingest program in football,” Jackson-Davis said. “What he’s done is incredible. I don’t think there’s a story in sports that’s equivalent to what he’s done.”
Jackson-Davis remembers what the program looked like before Cignetti. During his four seasons at Indiana, the Hoosiers football team recorded a 20-25 record. Back then, Memorial Stadium would be filled with opposing fans and emptied by halftime.
“The stadium would be packed, and it would be mostly Ohio State fans or mostly Michigan fans,” he said. “And now we got the whole stadium rocking cream and crimson and kicking people’s ass.”
The intensity is paying off for members of Indiana’s giant alumni base across the country. It’s also given Jackson-Davis and other alums bragging rights in the ever-competitive world of pro locker rooms, where arguments about college programs pop up all the time.
“They’ve never seen anything like this,” Jackson-Davis said of his friends back in Bloomington. “We had one good year when I was in school, and it was COVID. So being able to see this, I’m kind of mad that I’m not there seeing it in person, but it’s really cool to see from afar, and I’m cheering those guys on.”
Like many others across the sports world, Jackson-Davis still can’t wrap his head around what Cignetti has accomplished. He’s enjoying the ride the 64-year-old has put the school on.
“What he’s done with Indiana football, what he’s done in the college football landscape is incredible,” said Jackson-Davis, whose NBA IU brethren include the Knicks’ OG Anunoby and the Heat’s Kel’el Ware, who he’ll face Monday night at Chase Center in San Francisco while the national title game is happening in Miami.
“Salute to him because this is crazy to watch.”
Indiana football didn’t fare well during the time Trayce Jackson-Davis played basketball for IU from 2019 to 2023. (David Butler II / Imagn Images)
Steve Kerr has won nine NBA championships, five as a player and four as a coach. He knows what it takes to build a high-level culture on and off the floor. He was recently voted the most admired leader in sports in a poll compiled by The Athletic that included Hall of Fame coaches, assistant coaches, and current and former players and executives. He knows a good leader when he sees one, and even he speaks in awe when he describes the job Cignetti has done at Indiana in two seasons.
“I’m just blown away,” Kerr said. “It’s one of the most remarkable coaching jobs of all time in any sport. To take a team that has been down for that long in football, a total afterthought in probably the best conference in the country, and to just flip ’em, like immediately.”
Kerr, like Cuban, couldn’t think of a comparison in the world of sports for what Cignetti has done at Indiana.
“I remember laughing when I saw his press conference, when he said, ‘Google me, I win,’” Kerr said with a smile. “I remember laughing like, ‘Man, this guy’s got some you know what.’ And he was right.”
Did Kerr Google him?
“I did not Google him,” Kerr said. “But I googled the clip in the press conference a few times because I enjoyed watching it so much. Man, he backed it up, but it’s really remarkable. He must be an amazing talent evaluator because watching his teams, watching the broadcasts, they said they only have a handful of four-star guys. No five stars. You watch their team, they’re loaded, and they all obviously have just come the last couple years. So the guy obviously knows what he’s doing.”
Kerr hasn’t had the chance to meet Cignetti yet, but he’ll be rooting for him on Monday night.
“My daughter-in-law’s an IU grad, so she’s really excited,” Kerr said. “So we’re definitely cheering for IU right now.”
So is Cuban, who recently sent out a tweet on X, in hopes of helping IU fans and alums secure tickets to the game in Miami Gardens, Fla. He said he feels a similar sense of pride for his school that he did when he purchased the Mavs in 2000.
“We had been voted the worst pro team of the previous 10 years,” Cuban wrote. “When we won our first playoff series on a last-second shot, my first full year, I felt every emotion possible. This is a lot like that.”