Dick Vitale Won’t Be Present at the Final Four on Saturday

He is following the advice of his doctors after lymphoma and vocal cord surgery over the last year.

Legendary ESPN analyst Dick Vitale will not be present at the Final Four, he confirmed on Saturday.

Dickie V, as he’s known, was diagnosed with lymphoma back in October, and had surgery on his vocal cords earlier this year. Because of various tests and procedures, the analyst has not worked a college basketball game since November. 

This story answers a ? I have been receiving all week I’m heartbroken not to be joining my buddy ⁦@JayBilas⁩ for the @espn international telecast of ⁦@MarchMadnessMBB⁩ However I must adhere to the advice of my medical team .⁦@ESPNPR⁩ https://t.co/GqUc0SvARw

— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) April 2, 2022

His doctors once again advised him not to make the trip to New Orleans. However, he tweeted on Thursday that his blood work is looking “super,” and he recently shared that his scans showed no more cancer.

As Vitale said in his tweet Thursday, he was on the call for every Duke vs. UNC game on ESPN for 35 years, until the network took him off the game in 2015. The storied rivals will face each other for the first time in NCAA tournament history on Saturday night.

Even though Dickie V won’t be physically in the Caesars Superdome on Saturday night, expect the broadcaster to tweet along during the games, as he has for much of the season.