Dickie V has returned, baby!
And Clemson's fans showed him how much they missed him while fighting cancer.
Vitale returned to the transmission for the first time in almost two years for the Duke-Clemson confrontation Saturday night at ESPN and received a long ovation of fans, coaches and players from Littlejohn Coliseum in TypeFFF.
“Tonight, we celebrate the return of a true legend,” said the announcer in the Clemson Arena, the applause of fans who build with each of his words. “For more than four decades, their passion, energy and unmistakable voice have defined the game we love. After a two -year battle against cancer, it is back where it belongs.
“Welcome back to university basketball, ACC and Clemson, the only Dick Vitale.”
Vitale, clearly overcome by emotion, returned to the crowd in response.
“I want to thank all people,” Vitale said later in the game. “The reception here has really been out of the lists. I'm sorry to be so emotional. I can't tell you how excited I am to be here … this is like my super bowl. Be able to sit on the court and make a game, surpasses the chemotherapy and radiation.
“And I want to tell all cancer patients: please think positive and have faith. And keep fighting and fighting.”
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Emotional Dickie V on your return: this is my super bowl
Dick Vitale gets excited with his first game announcing after four battles with melanoma, lymphoma, vocal rope and cancers of lymph nodes.
Vitale was able to call a game quite a bit on his return, since Clemsson gave him to No. 2 Duke his first loss of ACC, 77-71.
Vitale, 85, announced that she was cancer free on January 8.
He had fought four different types of cancer in the last 3 and a half years. More recently, he underwent surgery in the summer of 2024 after a biopsy of a lymphatic ganglion in the neck showed cancer.
Vitale's last play task was on April 3, 2023, when he called the international broadcast of the San Diego State vs. National Championship game. Uconn for ESPN.
His return to call games had postponed due to an accident at home. He was previously ready to call the Duke-Wake forest game on January 25, which would have been his first time in the air since 2023, but announced that he had been hospitalized after a fall in his home in Florida.
Vitale joined ESPN during the 1979-80 season, just after the launch of ESPN, and called the first basketball game of the NCAA of the Network on December 5, 1979. He has called more than 1,000 games, and in September of 2024, it was induced in the transmission+cable fame.
