Dick Vitale announces lymph node cancer diagnosis after previous battles with cancer

On Friday, legendary college basketball announcer and three-time cancer survivor Dick Vitale announced that he has cancer once again, this time in his lymph nodes.

In a post on social media, Vitale revealed that a recent biopsy of his lymph node shows that it is cancerous, and that he will undergo surgery next week. He also thanked his family, friends and ESPN colleagues for their support.

“I will win this battle,” Vitale wrote in the post. “Surgery on Tues. will be a success. Thanks for All the prayers.”

Vitale has been diagnosed with cancer three times before, starting with melanoma in 2021 and then lymphoma a few months later. Vitale made an emotional return to the booth in November 2021, but stepped away in January 2022 due to vocal chord inflammation.

In July 2023, Vitale announced that he had been diagnosed with vocal chord cancer, and underwent radiation treatments before announcing that his vocal chord cancer was gone last November.

Vitale, who turned 85 in June, has provided color commentary for ESPN college basketball games since 1979. He is one of the most iconic broadcasters in the sport, and was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008.