Dick Vitale tears up on ACC Championship broadcast while talking about recent cancer battle

Dick Vitale became emotional Saturday night while talking about his most recent cancer battle while announcing top-ranked Duke's 73-62 victory over No. 13 Louisville in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship.

The 85-year-old ESPN college basketball analyst announced in December he was cancer-free. It was his fourth battle in just more than three years with the disease.

Vitale teared up as he looked into the camera while sitting between fellow announcers Dave O'Brien and Cory Alexander.

“It's like to me a miracle to sit here with you guys,” Vitale said. “I can't tell you how much you've meant to me. It's been unbelievable. A tough three years. Those four cancer battles. I don't wish it on anybody. Cancer sucks.”

Vitale's voice has been noticeably raspy in his return to calling games, though his famous youthful energy has remained intact.

“It's my last game this year and I'm praying, hopefully, I can be back next year, maybe even better,” Vitale said on the broadcast. “I hope and pray my doctor really helps me with my voice.”

Vitale underwent surgery last summer to remove cancerous lymph nodes from his neck. He was previously treated for melanoma and lymphoma, and had radiation treatments last year for vocal cord cancer.

The Basketball Hall of Famer has been with ESPN since it launched in 1979. The former college and NBA coach called ESPN’s first college basketball broadcast.

He’s also a longtime fundraiser for cancer research, helping friend Jim Valvano to the stage at the 1993 ESPYs, where Valvano delivered his famous “Don’t give up” speech. Valvano died of adenocarcinoma less than two months later.

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ESPN college basketball broadcaster Dick Vitale stands for a photo in front of the Cameron Crazies before an NCAA college basketball game between Duke and Stanford in Durham, N.C., Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben McKeown)

DETROIT (AP) — The Minnesota Frost and New York Sirens played in front of 14,288 fans Sunday night, setting an attendance record for a professional women's hockey game in the United States.

The Professional Women’s Hockey League game broke the mark as part of its Takeover Tour of potential expansion venues at Little Caesars Arena, a year after 13,736 fans watched women on the same sheet of ice at the home of the Detroit Red Wings.

Denver drew 14,018 fans to set the previous U.S. record two months ago in another neutral-site game featuring the Frost and the Montreal Victoire.

The world attendance record for a women's hockey was set nearly a year ago when 21,105 people were in the stands for a PWHL game between Montreal and Toronto in the NHL Canadiens’ arena.

The largest crowd to watch a women's hockey game in the U.S. was set in 2017 when 15,359 attended St. Cloud State's game at Wisconsin. In 2022 in Seattle, 14,551 fans watched the U.S. women's national team beat Canada.

During the first period of the Frost-Sirens game, the PWHL announced more than 1 million fans have attended games since the league made its debut last season. Players from both teams gave fans in the stands pucks that commemorated the milestone.

The six-team league is averaging more than 7,000 fans a game after drawing 5,500 fans a game during the regular season last year.

St. Louis is hosting the ninth and final stop of the Takeover Tour on March 29 when the Ottawa Charge face the Boston Fleet with a little more than a month left in the regular season.

AP Women’s Hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey

New York forward Paetyn Levis celebrates after scoring a goal during the first period of a PWHL game between the New York Sirens and the Minnesota Frost, at Little Caesars Arena, in Detroit, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (David Guralnick/Detroit News via AP)

Fans get excited during the first period of a PWHL game between the New York Sirens and the Minnesota Frost, at Little Caesars Arena, in Detroit, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (David Guralnick/Detroit News via AP)