Dick Vitale reveals his cancer has returned as 85-year-old ESPN legend vows to  'win this battle'

Beloved college basketball announcer and retired coach Dick Vitale has revealed that his cancer has returned.

'My report on the Biopsy of the Lymph Node in my neck has arrived & it is cancerous,' the 85-year-old Vitale wrote on X. 'With all the [prayer emojis] I have received & the loving support of my family, friends & @espn colleagues I will win this battle.

Vitale added: '[Prayer emojis] surgery on Tues. will be a success. Thanks for All the prayers.'

This is Vitale's fourth battle with cancer over the last three years.

In August of 2021, he revealed he was treated for melanoma, and was diagnosed with lymphoma in October of that year.

In August of 2022 he decaled he was 'cancer free,' only to have doctors diagnose him with vocal cord cancer in July of 2023.

In December he said he was, once again, cancer free following six weeks of radiation.

As always, there was an enormous response online to Vitale's announcement.

'We love you, Dickie V.' wrote ESPN's Scott Van Pelt.

Another ESPN veteran, Rece Davis, added: 'Prayers for you Dickie V.'

And the well wishers were not limited to college basketball fans.

The San Diego Padres social media account also posted: 'You're a legend, Dick. Sports world is rooting for you.'

A former head coach at the University of Detroit from 1973 until 1977 who went on to coach the NBA's Pistons for two seasons, the New Jersey native joined ESPN shortly after the network's launch in 1979.

Since then, he has become synonymous with college basketball, coining terms like 'diaper dandy' (a good freshman player) and 'PTPer' (prime-time player) while helping to popularize the sport from coast to coast.

He was inducted into both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the NCAA Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008.

Vitale has also raised money for cancer research through The V Foundation, which is named for his friend and former North Carolina State coach, Jim Valvano, who died from the disease in 1993.