Legendary college basketball broadcaster Dick Vitale has been forced to miss the entire 2023-24 season, as the result of an ongoing battle with vocal cord cancer.
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However, the ever-optimistic Vitale hasn't let the cancer diagnosis and ensuing treatment slow him down, and he has been quick to share updates of any progress that he's making in his recovery — along with offering us timelines for when we might see him back in the broadcast booth.
The most recent update came to us on Wednesday, via Vitale's Facebook page. In the post, Vitale wrote, 'Today we had a very eventful day starting at 7:30 in the morning with an examination and a scoping of my vocal cords... to see how I am recovering from the surgery after dealing with cancer on my vocal cords plus the 35 radiation treatments.'
After that, Vitale wrote about how his doctor has given him permission to begin speaking again — albeit in a limited capacity.
Whether the doctor meant Vitale could immediately produce a two minute video breakdown of the iconic Duke vs. North Carolina rivalry is unknown. Yet, considering how badly Vitale must have missed using his legendary voice to talk college basketball since the diagnosis, we aren't surprised to hear him getting right back to work.
Yes the best rivalry in college basketball! UNC vs DUKE @UNC_Basketball @DukeMBB @espnpr pic.twitter.com/OOuhQEPjxJ
— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) March 7, 2024
Vitale also revealed a timeline for when his broadcast career can resume in his Facebook post.