ESPN Analyst Dick Vitale Announces He Is Cancer-Free Again

ESPN’s Dick Vitale has some news, and it’s awesome, baby!

The legendary men’s college basketball analyst is once again cancer-free, the 85-year-old coach-turned-broadcaster announced on Thursday, December 12, via X.

“SANTA CLAUS came early as Dr Rick Brown called & said that my PET SCAN at 7 AM came back CLEAN OF CANCER !” Vitale wrote. “OMG thanks so much to ALL of YOU for your [prayers.] Yes I’m cutting the nets down baby it’s my National Championship!”

Vitale — known for his overwhelming enthusiasm for college basketball and his signature sayings like “awesome, baby” and “diaper dandy” — underwent surgery over the summer after a biopsy of a lymph node in his neck showed he had cancer.

It was the fourth separate cancer diagnosis for Vitale. He previously had multiple surgeries to remove melanoma followed by treatments for lymphoma in 2021 and vocal cord cancer in 2023.

Vitale did not call a game for ESPN during the 2023-24 season as he focused on his health, but he said in June that he hopes to be back behind the mic at some point this season.

Fans won’t be surprised to know the men’s college basketball community has rallied around Vitale, who has spent his 40-plus-year broadcasting career raising money and awareness in the battle against cancer. Writers, fans, players and broadcasters overwhelmed the replies, causing Vitale to send a follow-up post.

“Wow I am absolutely blown away by the love from so many — thanks for caring as I hope all of u that know someone with cancer to extend🙏🙏🙏& words of encouragement,” he wrote. “Means so much! Remind them to always THINK POSITIVE & HAVE FAITH !”

Vitale was instrumental in elevating the annual Jimmy V Classic on ESPN, an annual men’s doubleheader at Madison Square Garden in honor of the late NC State coach Jim Valvano. The event, which has also expanded to women’s basketball, raises money for the V Foundation for Cancer Research.

This year’s Jimmy V Classic came, fittingly, on Tuesday, December 10, the day before Vitale’s appointment that showed he was cancer-free. ESPN played a message that Vitale recorded from his Florida home during the broadcast.

“I want to simply say to all the cancer patients out there, my heart goes out to you,” he said in the video. “Trust me, I know what you go through as I’ve been battling four different cancers over the last three years. I have one philosophy, I’m gonna share it with all of you. Battling any kind of disease, to think positive and have faith. Have that and you’re gonna make it big time, because I’m gonna beat this disease again.”

Vitale added that since the V Foundation’s founding in 1993, it has raised more than $350 million for cancer research.