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- Dick Vitale has been a beloved college basketball announcer for 45 years
Legendary college basketball announcer Dick Vitale got in early Christmas attended as he revealed Thursday that he is cancer-free.
85-year-old Vitale was diagnosed with cancer four times in the past three years and announced in June that had cancer of the lymph nodes.
However, he has now been given a clean bill of health as he celebrates on social media.
“Santa came early when Dr. Rick Brown called and said my 7am PET SCAN had come back CLEAR OF CANCER!” he wrote to X. “Oh, thank you ALL so much for your (prayers) Yeah, I’m cutting the nets baby, it’s my national championship!
Vitale made the announcement while promoting the V Foundation for Cancer Research, named for the late college basketball coach Jim Valvano, who died of cancer in 1993.
Vitale, who shared photos earlier in the day of himself undergoing a PET scan, underwent a successful operation for lymph node cancer in July.
Legendary 85-year-old Dick Vitale announced Thursday to his fans that he is cancer-free
Vitale was absent from the booth last season as he dealt with the effects of vocal cord cancer
It’s unclear whether Vitale — who missed the 2023-24 college season due to the effects of vocal cord cancer — will return to the ESPN booth.
But the network’s official X account responded to his good news on Thursday.
“You just made our week @DickieV!,” they wrote. “You are an ESPN legend and we are so, so happy to hear this news. It’s awesome, baby, with a capital A!”
Vitale, a former college and NBA coach, joined ESPN 45 years ago during the 1979-80 college season.
Considered a legend in the hoops world, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018.
His battle with cancer began in 2021 when he was treated for lymphoma and melanoma before being declared cancer free the following year.
He then battled vocal cord cancer after being diagnosed with the disease in July 2023, but announced last June that he was dealing with cancer in his lymph nodes.
