{"id":122039,"date":"2025-02-05T12:14:28","date_gmt":"2025-02-05T17:14:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=122039"},"modified":"2025-02-05T12:14:48","modified_gmt":"2025-02-05T17:14:48","slug":"dick-vitale-returns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/02\/05\/dick-vitale-returns\/","title":{"rendered":"Dick Vitale Returns for Huge ACC Clash"},"content":{"rendered":"

The legendary announcer is back. After being diagnosed with cancer and taking a break from announcing in 2023, Dick Vitale will return courtside for the huge clash of ACC titans Duke and Clemson. While he had hoped to return sooner, Vitale will be a welcomed sight to the entire basketball world. Whether it be his unique calls or his pleasant charisma, Vitale always brightens up the broadcast with his infectious personality. Now, he will call one of the biggest games in the ACC this season. The ACC has struggled<\/a> and appears on the brink of collapse, but maybe Dick Vitale’s return can bring attention back to the conference.<\/p>\n

Dick Vitale Returns for Huge ACC Clash<\/h2>\n

“It’s Awesome, baby!”: \u00a0Vitale beats cancer<\/h3>\n

Dick Vitale had originally been diagnosed as cancer free in 2022<\/a>, but he was later diagnosed again in 2023. He left ESPN to undergo treatment for vocal chord cancer. After a long battle, Vitale announced not only that he was cancer-free but that the doctor had allowed him to return to announcing<\/a> on January 8th. The strength shown by Dick Vitale’s return can only be described in his famous words: “It’s awesome, baby!” The beloved announcer has been outspoken about his support of cancer research. His X account is full of links and posts about cancer research funds and how important it is to donate to them. Not only does Vitale’s incredible strength inspire college basketball, but also people all across the world. His efforts to support the causes that helped save his life two different times will never stop, and the college basketball world will be better for it.<\/p>\n

“OH…OH…it’s unbelievable!”: Vitale’s Career<\/h3>\n

Before Dick Vitale could return to announcing, he had to start his career. Vitale had a short but unbelievable coaching stint in college basketball. He coached at Detroit Mercy<\/a> from 1973-1977, leading them to an incredible 78-30 record. He even led Detroit Mercy to the NCAA Tournament and won a game in 1977. At a small school like Detroit Mercy, it’s important to note that this was before the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams and had the load of automatic qualifiers it had now. They finished 12th in the AP poll in 1977.<\/p>\n

He moved to the Detroit Pistons from 1978-79 but struggled to find any success, going 34-60<\/a>. ESPN then hired Vitale to be one of their announcers, and he has never looked back. He called his first game<\/a> on December 5th, 1979, a matchup between Wisconsin and Depaul. Vitale’s has been announcing games ever since and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2008. Dick Vitale’s return on Saturday continues his long legacy as an all-time commentator.<\/p>\n

“He’s a Diaper Dandy!”: Dick Vitale’s Return for Duke vs. Clemson<\/h3>\n

Dick Vitale often calls spectacular freshman by the nickname “diaper dandy” when he announces games. He will have the opportunity to watch the best freshman up close on Saturday. Cooper Flagg<\/a> leads the charge in Duke’s toughest matchup of their 20-0 campaign attempt<\/a>. Duke has continued to look unstoppable in ACC play, but the Tigers will come in hungry following a 3OT loss to Georgia Tech at home on Tuesday. Clemson is 10-2 in ACC play, and Duke is 11-0. The primetime matchup between the top ACC teams hopes to rejuvenate the ACC and spark a return to glory. The game promised to draw major attention, but Dick Vitale’s return to announcing will only elevate the number of viewers. If Clemson can put up a strong test against Duke, it may be exactly what the ACC needs.<\/p>\n

However, the game is secondary to his return. The whole country loves Dick Vitale and appreciates everything he has done for the game of basketball. Welcome back, Mr. Vitale, we missed you.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Image credit: \u00a9 Evert Nelson \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The legendary announcer is back. After being diagnosed with cancer and taking a break from announcing in 2023, Dick Vitale will return courtside for the huge clash of ACC titans Duke and Clemson. While he had hoped to return sooner, Vitale will be a welcomed sight to the entire basketball world. Whether it be his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5370,"featured_media":122076,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,773],"tags":[3120,1457,861],"class_list":["post-122039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-college-basketball","tag-acc-basketball","tag-clemson-tigers","tag-duke-blue-devils"],"modified_by":"Eamon Cassels, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5370"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122039"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122039\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":122078,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122039\/revisions\/122078"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}