Ursuline Academy has won some big basketball games in its cozy Pennsylvania Avenue gymnasium over the years, but Thursday had a different achievement worth boasting about.

The all-girls Catholic high school announced it has received a $5 million gift from real-estate developer and philanthropist Anthony Fusco Sr. It will fund what Ursuline termed a “complete renovation” of its Laffey-McHugh Gymnasium, which opened in 1980. Its capacity, presently 750, will increase by 100 to 200 seats.

The transformation will also include an expanded fitness center bearing Fusco’s name, better accessibility for those with disabilities, new locker rooms and athletic offices and other improvements.

It’s the largest donation in Ursuline’s 130-year history and “will have a widespread impact across the academy,” according to the school’s announcement.

“Ursuline is a place with a profound athletic legacy producing top-notch athletes at the collegiate and professional levels as well as leaders in our community,” Fusco said in Ursuline’s announcement.

“It is an honor to be a part of the transformation of the Ursuline athletic facilities into a state-of-the-art fitness and health center that is parallel to the caliber of Ursuline’s outstanding athletic program. Small but mighty, the Ursuline sisterhood is competitive, athletic and unique.”

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Thanks to his generosity, Fusco’s name already adorns the athletic center and stadium at Wilmington’s Delaware Military Academy thanks to $4.5 million in donations toward their construction. They opened in 2017 and 2019, respectively.

Last year, Salesianum announced a $10 million donation from Fusco for renovation of its athletic fields. That was added to the $12.5 million he had previously given Salesianum, where the athletic center bears his name as those fields soon will.

Fusco’s granddaughter, Picara Vassalo, is a 1997 Ursuline graduate. His 2019 philanthropy led to Ursuline’s convent becoming the Anthony N. Fusco Sr. Student Life Center and he has also provided tuition assistance to half of Ursuline’s students, according to the school.

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Ursuline Academy has both male and female students in pre-kindergarten through 5th grade but its middle and high schools are just for girls. The Ursuline varsity has a storied basketball history, with the Raiders having reached the championship game 25 times with 17 titles since the state tournament’s inception in 1973.

Those teams featured two of Delaware’s most familiar female sports figures – two-time WNBA MVP and 2016 Olympic gold medalist Elena Delle Donne, a 2008 grad, and Stanford University All-American Val Whiting, a 1989 grad – among many other outstanding players.

Other Ursuline teams have also excelled, including its 2024 DIAA championship swimmers. It was the school’s 65^th state title in a sports history that dates to the early 1900s, well before girls teams became prominent on the U.S. sports landscape.

Ursuline’s was “one of the first organized high school athletic programs specifically for women in the United States,” said Brittany Keller, Ursuline’s director of marketing and communications who also serves as cross country and track and field coach.

“The Ursuline community is in awe of the overwhelming generosity of Mr. Fusco,” Ursuline Academy's president, Dr. Trisha Medeiros, said in the school’s announcement. “These funds will support the long legacy of Ursuline’s superior athletic programs by transforming spaces focused on health and wellness so that our students can continue to grow, learn, and thrive.”

Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com and follow on Twitter @kevintresolini. Support local journalism by subscribing to delawareonline.com and our DE Game Day newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: $5 million gift from Anthony Fusco will renovate Ursuline Academy gym