Longtime broadcaster Dick Vitale has been a staple in ESPN’s coverage of college basketball for the better part of four decades. As of late, he has had a number of unfortunate health concerns that have taken him away from the sport. Vitale took to social media to reveal another saddening update on Wednesday night.
Vitale has missed time in the past two college basketball seasons dealing with both lymphoma and vocal cord dysplasia. The latter condition prompted him to schedule two more surgeries this summer to try and repair his vocal cord ailment.
His first surgery was supposed to happen on Tuesday, but instead, he received another update revealing on social media Wednesday that he has been diagnosed with vocal cord cancer. He will undergo radiation instead of more surgery to hopefully fix this issue.
“I’m sorry to share that I received tough news today from Dr. Zeitels about my throat. The tests on the tissues they removed showed that I have vocal cord cancer and will need 6 weeks of radiation to treat it. Dr. Z tells me that it has an extremely high cure rate, and that radiation, not more surgery, is the best path.
This is an update on my meeting today with Dr ZEITELS. Though I was disappointed with the pathology report, I plan on winning this battle like I did vs Melanoma & Lymphoma ! pic.twitter.com/pu61XJSm43
— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) July 12, 2023
He went on to say that if all goes well, he plans to “fight like hell” to return and call college basketball games this upcoming season.
“I plan to fight like hell to be ready to call games when the college hoops season tips off in the Fall. Dr. Z feels like that scenario is entirely possible. I want to say that I have been so touched by the tweets, texts, notes, and prayers, and will ask all of you to continue to send positive vibes.”
Vitale is obviously one of the most beloved figures in sports, and fans are certainly hoping that things do indeed go as planned and he can both return to courtside, and more importantly return to full health in his personal life.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.