Dick Vitale reveals his cancer has returned as 85-year-old ESPN legend vows to ‘win this battle’
Beloved college basketball announcer and retired coach Dick Vitale has revealed that his cancer has returned.
“My report on the biopsy of the lymph node in my neck is in and it is cancer,” Vitale, 85, wrote on X. “With all the [prayer emojis] I have received and loving support from my family, friends and @espn colleagues. I will win this fight.
Vitale added: ‘[Prayer emojis] surgery on Tuesday. will be a success. Thank you for all the prayers.’
This is Vitale’s fourth battle with cancer in the past three years.
In August 2021, he revealed he was being treated for melanoma, and was diagnosed with lymphoma in October that year.
Vitale has been a fundamental part of ESPN’s college basketball coverage since its inception
As always, there was a huge online reaction to Vitale’s disturbing announcement
In August 2022 he declared himself ‘cancer-free’, but in July 2023 doctors diagnosed him with vocal cord cancer.
In December, he said he was cancer-free again after six weeks of radiation.
As always, Vitale’s announcement was met with a huge online response.
“We love you, Dickie V,” wrote ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt.
Another ESPN veteran, Rece Davis, added, “Prayers for you Dickie V.”
And the benefactors weren’t just college basketball fans.
The San Diego Padres social media account also posted: “You are a legend, Dick. The sports world is for you.’
The New Jersey native was a former head coach at the University of Detroit from 1973 to 1977 and went on to coach the NBA’s Pistons for two seasons. He joined ESPN shortly after the network launched in 1979.
He has since become synonymous with college basketball, coining terms like “diaper dandy” (a good freshman player) and “PTPer” (prime-time player) while helping popularize the sport from coast to coast.
In 2008, he was inducted into both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the NCAA Basketball Hall of Fame.
Vitale has also raised money for cancer research through The V Foundation, which is named after his friend and former North Carolina State coach Jim Valvano, who died of the disease in 1993.