On Saturday night, Dick Vitale made his long-awaited return to the ESPN airwaves when he served as the color commentator for No. 2 Duke‘s game at No. 21 Clemson.
The crowd gathered behind him made sure to let him know how much he was missed.
After battling through several different forms of cancer and going nearly two full years without calling a game, Vitale received warm welcomes and loud ovations from inside Clemson’s Littlejohn Coliseum in the lead-up to the Tigers’ much-anticipated matchup against Cooper Flagg and the Blue Devils.
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The 45-year ESPN veteran, who has become one of the faces of college basketball over the course of his distinguished broadcasting career, was understandably emotional when addressing the audience for the first time.
“The reception here has been really off the charts,” Vitale said. “I’m sorry for being so emotional, but I can’t tell you how excited I am to be here. I was telling (fellow ESPN analyst) Cory (Alexander) before, this is like my Super Bowl, being able to sit courtside and do a game. It beats the hell out of chemotherapy and radiation.”
Over the past four years, since being treated for melanoma in 2021, Vitale, 85, has been diagnosed with and treated for lymphoma, pre-cancerous dysplasia, ulcerous lesions, a lymph node on his neck and cancer that was discovered on his vocal cords.
Prior to Saturday, the most recent game he worked was UConn’s victory over San Diego State in the championship game of the 2023 NCAA tournament. Even after being declared cancer-free after chemotherapy and radiation treatments, Vitale had been advised by doctors to rest the vocal cords that have made him such a cherished figure in the sport.
He described sitting courtside for Clemson and Duke as “heaven.”
Over his prolonged medical fight, Vitale has raised funds and attention for cancer research. In 2022, he was honored at the ESPYs as the recipient of the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance, named in honor of championship-winning NC State men’s basketball coach Jim Valvano, a good friend of Vitale’s who died in 1993 of cancer at 47 years old.
Vitale saved part of his pregame message for those still dealing with the debilitating effects of cancer.
“I want to say to all cancer patients out there … please, listen to me: Think positive and have faith and keep fighting and fighting and fighting,” he said. “I know what you’re going through and it’s not fun. But to be here, this is my Super Bowl. It is my championship, no matter what happens.”
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