Not even cancer and vocal cord surgery could keep Dick Vitale away from college basketball for too long.
The legendary ESPN broadcaster was sidelined for most of the 2021–’22 season. He began the year attempting to work despite a lymphoma diagnosis in October. After calling a few games for the network early on, he was told to rest his voice by his doctors. It was discovered that he had ulcerated lesions on his vocal cords for the second time in 15 years, which required surgery and rest for the remainder of the season.
Vitale did not call this weekend’s SEC tournament in Tampa, but he made an appearance ahead of Saturday afternoon’s games, getting the standing ovation that he certainly deserves.
Earlier this week, Vitale, 82, revealed that his latest PET scans show no cancer. In a February conversation with Sports Illustrated‘s John Wertheim, he confirmed that he plans to return to call games in 2022–’23, and still has his sights on a long term goal: becoming the first broadcaster to call a game at 100 years old.
“I have so much energy and enthusiasm left in the tank/I will match my drive/desire with any 22 YR OLD,” Vitale said via text message. “… I am greedy and want to be the first broadcaster to walk in and call a game at 100. Heck, that is only 18 years to go. Don’t bet against it happening/I guess nothing wrong with dreaming baby! … I just need MY VOICE BACK.”
