BRISTOL, Connecticut — Hall of Fame broadcaster Dick Vitale took to social media to reveal that he has been diagnosed with cancer again.
Vitale announced on Friday On X, formerly Twitter, it was reported that a biopsy of a lymph node in his neck revealed cancer. He is scheduled for surgery on Tuesday.
“With all the prayers I have received and the loving support of my family, friends and colleagues at ESPN, I will win this battle,” Vitale said in his post.
The veteran ESPN college basketball analyst had already been treated for melanoma and lymphoma. Vitale, 85, also received six weeks of radiation treatments last year when tests revealed he had vocal cord cancer. The Associated Press said.
Vitale, college basketball’s leading analyst, turned to broadcasting after a stint as a coach. After winning championships at the high school level and coaching college basketball, he became head coach of the Detroit Pistons in the NBA in the late 1970s.
His tenure with the Pistons lasted less than two seasons. He then signed with ESPN in 1979 and was part of the announcing team for the fledgling sports network’s first major college basketball broadcast.
Vitale was included in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008 and the National Sports Media Association Hall of Fame in 2013.
Vitale is also a long-time fundraiser for cancer research.
Vitale, a close friend of the late Jim Valvano, helped the coach on stage at the 1993 ESPY Awards, where Valvano gave his famous “Don’t Give Up” speech. Valvano died of adenocarcinoma less than two months later.