Arlington

Mavs Owner Gives Big Assist to His Alma Mater

Last week I ran into Mark Cuban playing pick-up basketball with the members of Lifetime Fitness in Dallas, and was reminded that he was a regular guy.

Then today I picked up a press release, and was reverse reminded that there’s nothing regular at all about the Mavs owner.

Taking time off from his constant tweaking with the NBA team, Cuban is helping his old college via a $5 million donation. Cuban, who graduated from Indiana in ’81, is giving the money to the Hoosiers for a state-of-the-art facility – the Mark Cuban Center for Sports Media and Technology.

Regular guys make layups. Billionaires make donations.

The center will be built into Indiana’s famed, renovated Assembly Hall and give the Hoosiers the distinction of being the first school in the country to assist its basketball team with the use of 3-D multi-camera technology and virtual reality. The center, which will employ 150 people, will be fully operational when the Hall’s renovations are complete in 2017.

Said Cuban, “As we were going through the process with 3-D and virtual reality, Fred was smart and said why not do this just with the Mavericks? Why not do this with Indiana University and give them a competitive advantage?" Cuban said.

A native Texan who was born in Duncanville and graduated from UT-Arlington, Richie Whitt has been a mainstay in the Metroplex media since 1986. He’s held prominent roles on all media platforms including newspaper (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dallas Observer), radio (105.3 The Fan) and TV (co-host on TXA 21 and numerous guest appearances, including NBC 5). He lives in McKinney with his wife, Sybil, and two very spoiled dogs.

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