Dick Vitale called back, and immediately apologized. He couldn’t do an interview and he couldn’t talk for long. These were his doctor’s orders, and Vitale wasn’t leaving anything to chance on the cusp of returning from nearly two years of cancer-induced, on-air silence.
“I must do stuff to save my voice,” Vitale explained over the telephone. “I’m still working on coming back from a tough situation.”
But the voice that became synonymous with college basketball over the past five decades still has something to say. So Vitale instead sent over a statement to express the wave of emotions coursing through him at the moment. It began with the phrase, “Oh Baby” and ended with the word, “baby” as well. It also included eight exclamation points and featured eight instances in which he wrote in ALL CAPS.
Dickie V, in other words, is thrilled to be back entertaining a national ESPN audience again, and the rest of the sport is rejoicing along with him.
“The past few years have tested me like never before,” Vitale wrote. “There were moments I wasn’t sure I’d ever sit courtside again.’
For more than three years, Vitale, 85, has been dealing with the effects of melanoma, lymphoma, vocal cord and lymph node cancers. It required multiple surgeries, 65 radiation treatments, rounds of chemotherapy and significant stretches of time in which the former NBA and college coach couldn’t speak at all.
Vitale previously announced he was cancer-free in 2022 but was diagnosed a year later with vocal cord cancer and had to undergo radiation treatments. In November 2023, he was also deemed to be cancer-free before undergoing a procedure last summer following a biopsy that showed a lymph node in his neck had cancer.
Vitale announced he was cancer-free again on Jan. 8 and initially intended to return behind an ESPN microphone for the Duke-Wake Forest game on Jan. 25. But that had to be postponed when Vitale was hospitalized after a fall at his Florida home. Vitale wrote he was “heartbroken” over the setback and it brought on a new set of medical concerns for him to overcome. He has since been cleared by his doctors to resume his broadcasting comeback this weekend.
‘Through it all,’ Vitale wrote, ‘I kept FIGHTING. BELIEVING. PRAYING.’
Vitale admitted to being nervous after so long away, but he’s mostly just grateful to get another chance doing the job he long ago realized was his way to leave a mark on the sport. He’ll broadcast Saturday’s Duke game at Clemson on ESPN along with play-by-play announcer Dave O’Brien and analyst Corey Alexander as part of a three-person crew.
Those around Vitale are nervous and thrilled for him, too.
“He has this passion for people, for basketball, to make a difference in other people’s lives, and his heart has been broken for two years because he hasn’t been able to share that love and that passion with others,” said ESPN’s Seth Greenberg, who has known Vitale for more than 50 years. “But his resilience, and his toughness, and his unrelenting optimistic outlook on everything and anything is, how can you not be moved? It’s going to be emotional for me watching it.”
Vitale joined ESPN soon after its launch following a coaching career that included stints with the University of Detroit and Detroit Pistons. He called the network’s first major NCAA basketball game on Dec. 5, 1979 and became one of its most recognizable faces as it rose from cable television start-up to an international broadcasting giant over the ensuing 45 years and counting.
Vitale used his platform at ESPN to elevate his work with the Jimmy V Foundation, which he has helped lead since its founding in 1993 by ESPN and late North Carolina State coach Jim Valvano. The annual Dick Vitale Gala, now in its 20th year, has raised nearly $93 million for pediatric cancer research.
But it’s that voice and those catchphrases – “It’s awesome, baby!” and “diaper dandy,” to name just two – and the way they express Vitale’s irresistible enthusiasm for college basketball that turned him into a fixture in American households. They’ve been missing, and it left a void after more than 1,000 games at ESPN.
It’s exactly why Vitale is willing to wait just a little longer to speak. This next game might just be the most memorable of them all.
‘I have no idea how it’s going to go. But I know this — just being there is a WIN,” Vitale wrote. “Just getting this opportunity is a miracle. And make no mistake about it … THIS is my NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP for 2025! … See you at courtside, baby!”
Below you can read Vitale’s full statement to USA Today:
Dick Vitale, in his own words
OH, BABY! This moment… this opportunity… this incredible blessing—it means EVERYTHING to me!
With tears in my eyes and my heart pounding, I think about what’s coming this Saturday—sitting courtside again for Duke versus Clemson, reunited with my phenomenal teammates Dave O’Brien and Cory Alexander. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. But more than that? I’m overwhelmed with gratitude.
The past few years have tested me like never before—four battles with melanoma, lymphoma, vocal cord and lymph node cancers. There were moments I wasn’t sure I’d ever sit courtside again. I went through multiple surgeries, 65 radiation treatments, grueling chemotherapy, and long stretches where I had no voice at all. It was a rollercoaster—highs, lows, moments of doubt.
But through it all, I kept FIGHTING. BELIEVING. PRAYING.
And I wasn’t alone.
The prayers, the love, the outpouring of support from my amazing wife Lorraine, my daughters Terri and Sherri, my entire family—they lifted me up when I felt like I had nothing left. My ESPN family—OH, MY HEART!—for over four decades, they’ve been there. Chairman Jimmy Pitaro, my colleagues, my friends—they never stopped believing in me, sending words of encouragement week after week.
And the FANS—oh, BABY!—the fans, the media, the coaches, the people I’ve never even met who prayed for me, who sent messages, who gave me hope—you all mean the world to me!
Then came the words I had prayed so hard to hear—my oncologist, Dr. Rick Brown, looked at me and said, “YOU ARE CANCER FREE!’
That was a championship moment! And then Dr. Steven Zeitels—after five major vocal cord surgeries—told me, “You’re ready to do what you love.” And what I LOVE is talking basketball!
Last month, I finally thought I was over the hump and would get the chance to return for the Duke-Wake Forest matchup. Yet, I was heartbroken when I suffered an accident at my house days before the game, leading to further medical concerns and uncertainty about my future. Thankfully, I’m happy to say the doctors have now cleared me to come back.
The last time I called a game was April 3, 2023—the National Championship, UConn versus San Diego State for ESPN International. That feels like a lifetime ago. But now? Now, I get to do it again.
I have no idea how it’s going to go. But I know this—just being there is a WIN. Just getting this opportunity is a miracle. And make no mistake about it…
THIS is my NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP for 2025!
Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! See you at courtside, baby!