​Former Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza will need even more space in his home trophy case. On Wednesday, Mendoza was named the 2025-26 Big Ten Conference Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year in an official release. He becomes the sixth Hoosier to win the award, the first football player to earn it since Anthony Thompson in 1990, and the first Indiana recipient overall since high jumper Derek Drouin in 2013. Mendoza, who led Indiana to the program’s historic first 16-0 season in FBS, captured a Big Ten Championship, victories in both the Rose Bowl and Peach Bowl, and a triumph in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, also claimed the Heisman Trophy. Following his remarkable college career in Bloomington, he was selected by the Las Vegas Raiders with the first overall pick in the NFL Draft this past spring. Throughout his collegiate tenure, Mendoza led FBS in passing touchdowns with 41 and posted a passing efficiency rating of 182.9.