Storrs — UConn announced Thursday that football coach Bob Diaco and his wife Julia will donate $250,000 to help fund the construction of new facilities for the men's and women's soccer, baseball and softball teams.

"Our UConn football family is very fortunate to call The Burton Family Football Complex and Mark R. Shenkman Training Center our home," Diaco said in a statement released by the university. "These facilities are among the finest in the nation and fully serve the needs of our football student-athletes. I want all Husky student-athletes and my fellow coaches to be able to enjoy the same caliber of facilities, which they richly deserve."

UConn said preliminary costs to improve the baseball, soccer and softball complexes total $46 million. The UConn Foundation expects to raise $25 million in private donations toward the projects, with a substantial portion of that total already in hand.

"Coach Diaco has a clear vision for the future of UConn's football program," UConn athletic director David Benedict said. "He and Julia are committed to our overall vision that all of UConn's athletic facilities should sustain the competitiveness of the teams that play in them. We're very thankful for their support of our efforts to upgrade and modernize these complexes for the benefit of our student-athletes."

Baseball coach Jim Penders, who guided the Huskies to the American Athletic Conference tournament championship and their fourth NCAA tournament bid in seven seasons, said, "What Bob and Julia did today is the epitomy of leading by example. I read about their incredibly generous gift this morning and was blown away by the generosity and selflessness.

"They've set the bar high for all of us at UConn. ... The Diaco family is a model of what it means to leave something better than one found it."