Longtime ESPN basketball analyst Dick Vitale diagnosed with cancer for 4th time
85-year-old says he is scheduled for surgery on Tuesday
Longtime ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale said on social media he has been diagnosed with cancer for a fourth time.
Vitale announced Friday that a biopsy of a lymph node in his neck showed cancer. He is scheduled to have surgery Tuesday.
My report on the Biopsy of the Lymph Node in my neck has arrived & it is cancerous . With all the πππ I have received & the loving support of my family,friends & <a href="https://twitter.com/espn?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@espn</a> colleagues I will win this battle .πππ surgery on Tues. will be a success . Thanks for All the prayers.
—@DickieV
"With all the [prayers]Β I have received & the loving support of my family, friends and ESPN colleagues, I will win this battle," Vitale said on on X, formerly Twitter.
Vitale has been with ESPN since 1979, the year the network launched. The former coach called ESPN's first college basketball broadcast. He's also a longtime fundraiser for cancer research.
Vitale helped friend Jim Valvano to the stage at the 1993 ESPYs, where Valvano delivered his famous "Don't give up" speech. Valvano died of adenocarcinoma less than two months later.