BLOOMINGTON — Mark Cuban is giving Indiana University $5 million to build a state-of-the-art sports media technology center inside the renovated Assembly Hall. But from his perspective, he’s just funding innovation and, he hopes, turning his alma mater into a leader in its field for years to come.

“It’s the next level of digital,” Cuban said Friday. “When we talk about the Internet being transformative, this is going to be transformative at another level.”

The gift will help Indiana establish the Mark Cuban Center for Sports Media and Technology, which will house virtual reality equipment and two all-graphic studios. It will also allow the university to install 3-D multi-cameras at Memorial Stadium and Assembly Hall, making IU the first university in the country to have such technology.

Bringing it to Indiana was an extension of Cuban’s efforts to use the technology with the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks — the team he owns — to give players and coaches a competitive advantage.

But he said he doesn’t see a limit to the uses for these technologies, and that he hopes his gift will help put IU at the forefront of their growth.

“It’s like the Internet or streaming – when we first started streaming, who’d have thought we could possibly do all the things we can do?” Cuban said. “But once you get going, you learn new things. That’s what’s going to happen here.”

Cuban’s donation is his largest gift to the university, and his first known gift to IU Athletics. Cuban graduated from IU in 1981.

The center will be available for student use. IU’s schools of media and informatics will work with the athletics department to offer curriculum using the center, and create content for the athletic department. It will be located on the west side of Assembly Hall and have 24-hour swipe-card access for students using the facility.

“The (center) will be Indiana University’s newest hub of collaboration, of creativity and of communication,” IU President Michael McRobbie said. “It will also contribute in major ways to the education of students.”

The 3-D multi-cameras in Assembly Hall and Memorial Stadium will be similar to ESPN’s “Axis” camera, “freeD Multicam technology” will provide replays from all angles that can be used on ESPN and Big Ten Network broadcasts.

Cuban said he’s talked with IU Director of Athletics Fred Glass and Associate AD Anthony Thompson “for years now” about ways in which Cuban could give back to his alma mater.

They turned to these technologies. Cuban said he sees their applications expanding beyond sports.

“We wanted to do something that gave IU a competitive advantage across all elements of sports, gave them an advantage in recruiting students into new technology phases,” Cuban said. “You’re going to be places you’ve never been before, without leaving your couch. Coaches are gonna create views for their players, and coaching tools they’ve never been able to use before.

“There will be new types of analytics. It’ll apply to science, to surgery, to medicine. That’s why we wanted to do it now, because it is so early.”

Glass expects to have the “freeD” camera installed inside Assembly Hall by the start of next season. Its counterpart at Memorial Stadium might also be ready for the fall season, though IU’s AD wouldn’t commit to that. The center itself will open with the renovated Assembly Hall, scheduled to be completed next year.

Cuban envisions Indiana becoming a leader in education in these fields in the future, a driving factor behind his gift. Their uses are still being explored, and he said he hopes he’ll be able to hire IU students trained in them in the future.

Right now, though, they have one basic application.

“Let smart people do smart things,” Cuban said. “There’s just no limit to what these things are going to be able to do.”

Follow Star reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.