ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale will be honored at the Southeastern Conference men’s tournament next month.
The 82-year-old Vitale, a staple of college basketball broadcasts for more than four decades, recently underwent surgery to treat dysplasia and ulcerated lesions of the vocal cords. He announced last month that he would not broadcast any games for ESPN for the rest of the season.
The SEC tournament is scheduled to be contested from March 9-13 in Tampa, Fla., which is close to Vitale’s home. Vitale announced Friday on Twitter that he plans to attend the conference semifinal games on March 12.
THANK YOU @GregSankey & @SEC as I plan to be @SEC semi finals March 12 ! It’s so nice of the @DLeibovitzSEC & staff to think of me. Heck I have a better record than Coach K. I have coached 43 yrs on @espn UK-Duke-UNC-UCLA- KANSAS etc & I’m like 1000-0! @TheMontagGroup @ESPNPR https://t.co/uXxTrxG9DJ
— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) February 25, 2022
Vitale was diagnosed with melanoma last August and lymphoma the following October. He has been undergoing chemotherapy to treat the cancer.
In 2008, Vitale was inducted into both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. He coached the University of Detroit from 1973-77, compiling a 79-29 record, and the NBA’s Detroit Pistons for parts of two seasons from 1978-80, finishing 34-60.
He joined ESPN in the fall of 1979, shortly after the network’s launch.
–Field Level Media
