For the first time in more than 18 months, ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale is set to call a game.
ESPN announced Friday that Vitale is scheduled to call the Duke-Wake Forest men’s college basketball game a week from Saturday, his first assignment since April 2023, when he worked the international broadcast of the men’s national championship. He is set to work alongside Dave O’Brien on the broadcast, which airs in a 4:30 PM ET window on ESPN.
In just the past three years, Vitale has battled four different types of cancer that have largely kept him off the air. Even before his hiatus after the 2022-23 season, he had to cut short his 2021-22 campaign due to chronic vocal cord issues that eventually became cancer. His most recent diagnosis came less than a year ago, as he hoped to ramp up for a return this season.
He said last week that he is now cancer free.
Perhaps the best-known college basketball analyst to ever work a game — known throughout his heyday for his catchphrases such as “Awesome, Baby!” — Vitale has also been known for his cancer fundraising as part of the V Foundation, named for his former broadcast partner Jim Valvano.
Vitale has been with ESPN since its first year of existence in 1979.
