One of college basketball’s greatest announcers reveals new cancer diagnosis, surgery

BRISTOL, Conn. — Hall of Fame broadcaster Dick Vitale revealed on social media that he has again been diagnosed with cancer.

Vitale announced Friday on X, formerly Twitter, that a biopsy of a lymph node in his neck showed cancer. He is scheduled to have surgery Tuesday.

“With all the (prayers) I have received & the loving support of my family, friends and ESPN colleagues, I will win this battle,” Vitale said in his post.

The longtime ESPN college basketball analyst has previously been treated for melanoma and lymphoma. Vitale, 85, also had six weeks of radiation treatments last year when tests revealed he had vocal cord cancer, The Associated Press said.

Vitale, college basketball’s top analyst, got into broadcasting after a stint as coaching. After winning championships at the high school level and coaching college basketball, he became head coach of the Detroit Pistons in the NBA in the late ‘70s.

His job with the Pistons lasted less than two seasons. He then signed on with ESPN in 1979 and was part of the announcing team for the fledgling sports network’s first major college basketball broadcast.

Vitale was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008 and the National Sports Media Association’s Hall of Fame in 2013.

Vitale also is a longtime fundraiser for cancer research.

A close friend of the late Jim Valvano, Vitale helped the coach to the stage at the 1993 ESPYs, where Valvano delivered his famous “Don’t give up” speech. Valvano died of adenocarcinoma less than two months later.