The iconic college basketball announcer revealed on Twitter Wednesday afternoon that he has officially been given the all-clear after multiple lengthy battles with cancer.
Vitale, 83, has battled cancer twice in the past year — first with melanoma last August and then again after he was diagnosed with Lymphoma in October. He started treatments and chemotherapy, and ended up missing most of last season.
Vitale returned briefly on ESPN in what was an emotional moment during the Gonzaga-UCLA game in November, but he stepped away for good in January while dealing with vocal cord dysplasia.
He said in April that he was cleared to “ring the bell” after seven months of treatments, and then was finally given the all-clear on Wednesday.
Vitale has essentially
been at ESPN since the beginning. He joined the network for the 1979-80
college basketball season, and called the first ever college game shown
on ESPN. He’s been an iconic voice in the sport ever since, and was
inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008.
Fittingly enough, Vitale was honored with the Jimmy V Award
at the ESPYs earlier this summer. Vitale actually presented Jim Valvano
with the Arthur Ashe Courage award just months before the legendary
coach died in 1993, and Vitale has been a big champion for the V
Foundation for Cancer Research ever since.
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