After all, Hall of Fame broadcaster Dick Vitale won't be back on the air next week.
Vitale announced Saturday that he was hospitalized after a fall at his Florida home. In a post on X, Vitale said doctors told him he's “making great strides” and doesn't require surgery.
The news comes a day after ESPN announced that Vitale would call the Duke-Wake Forest men's college basketball game on Jan. 25 at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston Salem, North Carolina, which would have been his first time on air from 2023.
Vitale, 85, has battled four different types of cancer in the past three and a half years. Most recently, he underwent surgery in the summer of 2024 after a biopsy of a lymph node in his neck showed cancer. Vitale announced on January 8 that he was no longer cancer-free.
“I am devastated not to be on the court with my ESPN friend Dave O'Brien and all the players and fans, especially the overwhelming response I received when the news of my planned return was announced,” Vitale said. “I was eagerly awaiting the opportunity to feel the excitement and energy of a college basketball environment for the first time in almost two years.”
Vitale added that he is expected to make a full recovery, but no timetable has been set for his return to broadcasting.
“Despite this latest setback, I feel blessed to have the support of my family, friends and ESPN teammates,” Vitale said. “I'm a lucky guy and, as I said before, I will continue to do whatever it takes to get back into the sport I love.”
In 2021, Vitale was diagnosed with lymphoma, months after he underwent multiple surgeries to remove melanoma. In 2022, he announced that he was cancer-free. Then in 2023, he was diagnosed with vocal cord cancer and underwent radiation.
Vitale's last playing assignment was almost two years ago: April 3, 2023, calling the international broadcast of the national championship San Diego State vs. UConn for ESPN. He announced that he was cancer-free again in November 2023.
Vitale joined ESPN during the 1979-80 season, just after the launch of ESPN, and called the network's first major NCAA basketball game on December 5, 1979. He went on to call more than 1,000 games and, in September In 2024, he was inducted into the Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame.
