Indiana football continues to dip into the transfer portal — this time for a quarterback.
Fernando Mendoza, who entered the transfer portal Dec. 11, is transferring to Indiana, according ESPN's Pete Thamel's post on X on Tuesday. Mendoza’s younger brother, Alberto, who is also a quarterback, just finished his true freshman season in Bloomington.
Indiana beat out the University of Georgia and the University of Miami.
Mendoza spent three seasons at the University of California, Berkeley, and has two seasons of eligibility after redshirting his freshman year in 2022. The Miami native completed 68.7% of his passes across 11 games this season, throwing for 3,004 yards alongside 16 touchdowns and six interceptions.
As a high school recruit, Mendoza was a 2-star prospect, according to 247 Sports’ composite ranking with just one Power 5 offer — Cal. He was slotted as the 2,149th best player in the nation and the 140th-best signal caller.
Nearly three years after committing to Cal out of Christopher Columbus High School in Miami, Mendoza is now a Hoosier.
At the time of his commitment, Mendoza was ranked the third-best quarterback and the fourth-best player in the transfer portal. With sixth-year senior quarterback Kurtis Rourke exhausting his eligibility, Mendoza will now likely slot in as Indiana's starting quarterback in 2025.
Mendoza is Indiana’s ninth portal commitment as the Hoosiers have added three defensive players, two specialists, two running backs and a tight end.
Follow reporters Daniel Flick (@ByDanielFlick) and Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and columnist Jhett Garrett (@jhettgarrett) for updates throughout the Indiana football season.
