ESPN legend Dick Vitale reveals he has been diagnosed with cancer for the third time: College basketball analyst, 84, ready to begin vocal cord treatment
- Dick Vitale joined ESPN the year it launched in 1979 and is a TV icon
- He plans to ‘fight like hell’ to be ready to host college basketball games in the fall
- DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news
Longtime ESPN basketball analyst Dick Vitale has revealed the heartbreaking news that he has received a THIRD cancer diagnosis.
Vitale tweeted that on Wednesday night he had surgery this week in Boston, and tests showed he has vocal cord cancer. He said he will undergo six weeks of radiation.
“I plan to fight like crazy to be ready to call games when the college basketball season kicks off in the fall,” Vitale tweeted, adding that his doctor “thinks that scenario is entirely possible.” .”
Vitale, 84, has previously been treated for melanoma and lymphoma. Last April, he celebrated being cancer free.
Vitale helped friend Jim Valvano onstage at the 1993 ESPYs, where Valvano delivered his famous “Don’t give up” speech. Valvano died of adenocarcinoma less than two months later.
Dick Vitale has revealed he received a heartbreaking third cancer diagnosis this week
Vitale announced he was cancer-free in 2022, but has now received another diagnosis
Vitale, now 84, was a former head coach at the University of Detroit from 1973 to 1977
A former head coach at the University of Detroit from 1973 to 1977 who then coached the NBA’s Pistons for two seasons, he came from New Jersey shortly after the network’s 1979 launch with ESPN.
He has since become synonymous with college basketball, coining terms such as “diaper dandy” (a good freshman player) and “PTPer” (prime-time player) as he popularized the sport from coast to coast.
He was inducted into both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the NCAA Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008.
Vitale has also raised money for cancer research through The V Foundation, named after Valvano.