$250,000 can buy things like a 2016 Bentley Bentayga first edition or a new home in the Colorado Rockies. This is a significant amount of money for anyone to have—let alone give away.

Central’s Athletic Department just received that sum of money from a donation by alumni Dave Heaverlo.  

Athletic Director Dennis Francois was thrilled with the donation and already has a good idea of where he would like to spend the majority of the money.

“We have some facility upgrades intended with this gift,” Francois said.

Francois said one reason the donation was so big was the positive relationship between Heaverlo and Central.

“Hopefully, this is an indication of his belief in the university and the program,” Francois said. “His relationship with our president and the leaders of our university shows how indicative those relationships are.”

Heaverlo became a professional baseball player after his time at Central.

However, Francois said that the gift is intended for upgrades in all sports and not just specific teams.

“We are trying to get our facilities up to the standard to where we can really grab the attention of student athletes here,” Francois said. “We have done very well upgrading places like the SURC and music building and the upgrade to our facilities is the next big one.”

Francois said that the donation will play a big role in the recruiting of new Wildcats into the department.

“We felt we were losing student-athletes here because some of them felt their high schools had better facilities than us,” Francois said. “We want the best for our student-athletes.”

Francois sees this as a major step for the Athletic Department and hopes that it will only continue to thrive as the years go by.

“We want to make sure our students here have the best student-athlete experience,” Francois said. “A successful program is also winning. You learn from losing but it doesn’t make it a good experience.”

Francois said that, even with all of the facility upgrades, that academics will still be paramount for the program to succeed.

“We are still making sure that [student-athletes] are still taking care of business in the classroom, which is the number one goal,” Francois said. “We want to continue having success in the classroom and have a great experience for those who choose us whether it is on the track, court or field.”

While talk of possible scholarships hasn’t been dismissed, Francois made it clear that the department will use the money for facility updates first, which they feel are necessary.

Even though the timetable for the facility upgrades wasn’t given, the Athletic Department will be working to get the upgrades implemented as soon as possible to attract as many new student-athletes as they can.

“We want our standards to be high,” Francois said. “We want our student-athletes to be treated properly and well.”