- April 2, 2026
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There are four days this year Lakewood Ranch's Dick Vitale dreads most. On each of them, his phone will ring with a potentially life-changing call.
April 3 is one of those days.
His quarterly PET scan comes the day before, when the four-time cancer survivor will undergo an imaging exam to reveal whether he’s cancer-free or his cancer has returned.
“It’s going to be a nerve-wracking time,” Vitale said.
The 86-year-old college basketball broadcaster was open about those nerves in a speech to family and friends at his “March Mayhem” fundraiser March 28 at Gold Coast Eagle Distributing in Lakewood Ranch. It was a watch party for the NCAA men’s basketball Elite Eight, benefitting pediatric cancer research via the V Foundation.
Vitale didn’t provide color commentary for Iowa vs. Illinois or Arizona vs. Purdue, as he has done during a 46-year career with ESPN. The evening’s two games lacked his signature phrases like “Awesome, baby!” and “Dipsy-doo dunk-a-roo.”
Instead, he spoke about his longtime passion for helping children battle cancer.
“No kid should have to do what I’ve done, or go through the bloodwork, the scans, the chemo, the radiation,” Vitale said. “So I’ve dedicated my life now — and am more obsessed than ever — to raise millions of dollars.”
Vitale has been cancer-free since December 2024 following a three-year battle against four different cancer diagnoses. He was diagnosed with melanoma in August 2021 and later had lymphoma, vocal cord cancer and lymph node cancer.
Treatment forced him to put down the headset and leave his place of comfort on the sideline. His voice, heard by college basketball fans for decades, became tired and raspy.
Nearly two years passed with him off the air entirely. Vitale called ESPN’s international broadcast of the University of Connecticut vs. San Diego State in the national championship on April 3, 2023, and didn’t return until Duke at Wake Forest on Jan. 25, 2025.
His on-air appearances are limited these days, but when he does tackle a game assignment, he embraces it, trying to bring that enthusiasm.
“The one thing that’s made a big impression on a lot of people is my passion and love for what I do – the spirit, the energy,” Vitale said. “I’ve always tried to — no matter what I do — do it to the best of my ability.”
He walked around the March Mayhem fundraiser with the help of a cane, since his legs remain weak from chemotherapy and radiation therapy. He shook more than a few hands and posed for plenty of photos.
Before stepping up to the podium for his speech, Vitale sat beside Dereck Whittenburg, sharing some laughs. Both of them were close with former NC State men’s basketball coach Jim Valvano, who alongside ESPN, co-founded the V Foundation in 1993.
Whittenburg’s airball in the waning seconds of the 1983 national championship was the assist for Lorenzo Charles, who dunked it at the buzzer to win the Wolfpack's second title.
Among the other basketball celebrities in attendance were Marcus Liberty and Mike Brown, who played four and 11 years in the NBA, respectively. Liberty’s own relationship with Vitale began in 1988-89 during his freshman season with Illinois.
Vitale coined the nickname “Flyin’ Illini” for that team, which eventually reached the Final Four. He was also the first to say "Give me liberty, or give me death" in reference to Liberty while calling the 1987 McDonald's All-American Game.
“When I moved here, I didn’t know he lived here,” Liberty said. “I went to a restaurant and he saw me and we hooked back up. We have been connected ever since.”
Liberty, who now runs Liberty Edge Basketball serving youth in the Sarasota-Bradenton area, has become a frequent supporter of Vitale's fundraising efforts.
He said if there's one thing people don't understand about the 14-time Hall of Famer, it's that his passion for pediatric cancer research embodies kids from all walks of life.
"What he's all about is touching and reaching everyone," Liberty said. "From the second I met him, he treated me actually like I was one of his kids."
Vitale donned the headset a few weeks ago. In doing so, he called the first NCAA Tournament game of his storied career.
That was March 17 in Dayton, Ohio, when Texas faced North Carolina State for a spot in the Round of 64. The Longhorns won, 68-66, on a last-second jumper.
He returned to the airwaves alongside Charles Barkley, a fellow Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer.
“Charles is as good as it gets — one of the greatest,” Vitale said. “In my 46 years at ESPN, I would say it’s one of my five best moments.”
In his March 28 speech, Vitale reflected on some of the nervous moments in his coaching career. He coached the Detroit Pistons from 1978-79 and Detroit Mercy men’s basketball from 1973-77.
He was also an assistant for Rutgers from 1971-73, recruiting players who eventually took the team to the 1976 Final Four — still the program’s only appearance.
None of those nerves, he said, compare to what he feels awaiting PET scan results.
“I’ll be a nervous wreck,” Vitale said. “When I get that call.”
