Just one day after announcing an anticipated comeback, Hall of Fame broadcaster Dick Vitale said he will have to delay his return due to a health issue unrelated to the cancer that has kept him out of the booth since 2023.
In a statement posted by ESPN, Vitale said he suffered an accident at his home in Florida ‘that has created some new health challenges and near-term physical limitations for me.’
ESPN announced Friday that Vitale was scheduled to be on the call for Duke’s game at Wake Forest on Jan. 25 in Winston Salem, North Carolina. Vitale’s most recent game assignment was April 3, 2023, calling the international broadcast of the San Diego State vs. UConn national championship for ESPN.
‘I’m devastated that I won’t be courtside with my ESPN buddy Dave O’Brien and with all the players and fans, especially because of the overwhelming response I received when news of my planned return was announced,’ Vitale’s statement said. ‘I was anxiously awaiting the chance to feel the excitement and energy of a college basketball environment for the first time in nearly two years. Now, I’m just going to wait some more.’
No timetable for his return was given, and ESPN made no further comment.
Vitale, 85, battled four types of cancer for more than three years and is only months removed from a 2024 surgery to address a lymph node in his neck diagnosed as cancer.
Vitale announced on Jan. 8 that he was cancer-free, the most recent disclosure in the health battle he chose to make public through social media platforms.
In 2021, Vitale was diagnosed with lymphoma, which followed multiple surgeries to remove melanoma. In 2022, he announced he was cancer-free. Then in 2023, he was diagnosed with vocal cord cancer and underwent radiation.
He announced he was cancer-free for the third time in November 2023.
Vitale joined ESPN during the 1979-80 season and called his first major college basketball game on Dec. 5, 1979. He has been the game analyst for more than 1,000 games and was inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame in 2024.