Dick Vitale Hospitalized, Won't Need Surgery After 'Tough Fall'

Basketball Hall of Famer Dick Vitale issued a statement on Saturday saying he will not be able to make his broadcast return for a Jan. 25 game between Duke and Wake Forest.

In a statement relayed by ESPN PR, Vitale said he "won't be able to call the Duke-Wake Forest game next weekend" because he had "an accident" at his home in Florida "that has created some new health challenges and near-term physical limitations."

Vitale later posted on social media hat he was recovering from a "tough fall" and was being kept in the hospital for recovery:

ESPN previously announced that Vitale was planning to be on the call with play-by-play commentator Dave O'Brien for the Duke-Wake Forest game at Lawrence Joel Coliseum on Jan. 25.

Vitale has been on hiatus from broadcasting since 2023 when he was diagnosed with laryngeal cancer and underwent six weeks of radiation treatment.

After being given a clean bill of health in December 2023, Vitale announced in June that a biopsy showed he had a cancerous lymph node and would undergo surgery. He revealed in a video post on Dec. 12 that a PET scan showed he was once again cancer-free.

Vitale has had four different bouts with cancer since 2021. He told Dana Hunsinger Benbow of the Indianapolis Star in November 2022 that he lost his voice for four months after undergoing surgeries for pre-cancerous dysplasia and ulcerated lesions on his vocal cords.

The last time Vitale worked a game was as part of the international broadcast crew for ESPN during the national championship game between Connecticut and San Diego State on April 3, 2023.

Vitale has worked for ESPN as a college basketball analyst since the 1979-80 season. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008.

The University of Detroit, where Vitale was head coach of the basketball program for four seasons from 1973-74 to 1976-77, named its basketball court in his honor in December 2011.