Dick Vitale, the legendary voice of college basketball, is returning to the air for the first time since 2023.
The Hall of Fame broadcaster will be covering the Duke-Wake Forest men’s college basketball game on Saturday, Jan. 25 at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston Salem, North Carolina.
Vitale, aged 85, has faced four different types of cancer in the last three and a half years. Recently, he had surgery in the summer of 2024 following a biopsy of a lymph node in his neck that revealed cancer. On Jan. 8, Vitale declared that he was now cancer-free.
“I am overjoyed and find it hard to believe that this is happening after enduring five major vocal cord surgeries, 65 radiation treatments, and six months of chemotherapy,” said Vitale. “It has been an incredibly challenging journey, but the prayers and well wishes from the wonderful fans have lifted me up.”
“I just hope that I can offer the people some basketball insights that can bring even more excitement to the game.”
Dick Vitale, the longtime ESPN college basketball broadcaster and Hall of Famer, will be the recipient of the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance at this year’s ESPYS.
In 2021, Vitale was diagnosed with lymphoma, months after he had multiple surgeries to remove melanoma. In 2022, he announced he was cancer-free. Then in 2023, he was diagnosed with vocal cord cancer and underwent radiation.
Vitale’s last game assignment was nearly two years ago — on April 3, 2023, calling the international broadcast of the San Diego State vs. UConn national championship for ESPN. He announced he was cancer-free for the third time in November 2023.
Vitale joined ESPN during the 1979-80 season, just after ESPN’s launch, and called the network’s first major NCAA basketball game on Dec. 5, 1979. He has gone on to call well over 1,000 games and in September 2024, he was inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame.
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