Dick Vitale

Vitale was born in Passaic, New Jersey, and grew up in East Rutherford, New Jersey. His father, John, was a piece work clothing press operator and had a second job as a security guard.[1] His mom, Mae, worked in a factory as a seamstress and sewed coats until she suffered a stroke.[2] In kindergarten, Vitale lost the vision in his left eye due to an accident with a pencil. Vitale graduated from East Rutherford High School, and in 1963, he graduated from Seton Hall University with a bachelor of science degree in business administration. He later earned a master's degree in education from William Paterson University.

Vitale married Lorraine McGrath in 1971. The couple have two daughters, Terri and Sherri,[5] and five grandchildren.[6] He is a fan of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Lightning, and Rays.[7]

Following his departure as coach of the Detroit Pistons, Scotty Connal gave Vitale his first TV opportunity at the then fledgling ESPN cable network. His first reaction to the job of broadcaster was "Absolutely no way. I know nothing about TV. I want to get back to where I belong and my spirit belongs." He was reluctant to accept the position but his wife Lorraine told him to "go on TV and have some fun", so Vitale accepted on a temporary basis until another coaching job became available. He called ESPN's first college basketball game on December 5, 1979, when DePaul defeated Wisconsin 90–77.[8] His first play-by-play partner was Joe Boyle.

Vitale was not a natural at first for broadcasting. He missed his first-ever production meeting when he was walking the streets of Chicago. Also, he would talk while the producers were talking to him through his earpiece, during commercials, and while the play-by-play man was talking. Vitale himself was not sure if broadcasting would fit him. Connal, who had hired him, told him, "You have a quality we can't teach." Vitale did not understand this until many people wanted his autograph at the 1983 Final Four. He credits a lot of his success to working with Jim Simpson at the beginning of his career.

In 1985, after the American Broadcasting Company acquired ESPN, Vitale also began doing broadcasts on the ABC network.

In 1999, Vitale was featured in a series of thirty-second promo shorts for "Hoops Malone". The shorts, which aired in heavy rotation on ESPN, were presented as a sitcom featuring Vitale, George Gervin and others, including a puppet called "O'Hoolix". ESPN promoted "Hoops" with banners and other marketing premiums, with the idea of generating buzz about the show, but no actual episodes were ever produced. Though this led to an offer for Vitale to do an actual sitcom, he turned down the opportunity.

In December 2002, Vitale called a St. Vincent – St. Mary's–Oak Hill Academy prep game, featuring then high school phenom LeBron James. He announced the game with Brad Nessler and NBA great Bill Walton.[9]

By the 2004–05 season, Vitale was doing approximately 40 games a year.[10]

Vitale is signed with ESPN through the 2021–22 college basketball season.[11] Vitale was recruited to do color in the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament by CBS but ESPN would not allow it. However, ESPN's analysts Jay Bilas and Len Elmore were allowed to provide color for CBS's tournament coverage, teaming with play-by-play announcers Dick Enberg and Gus Johnson. However, this is slightly misleading as Elmore continues to call games for both CBS and ESPN during the college basketball season; in Bilas' case he was loaned to CBS for the tournament only in 2003 and from 2005–2010.

In February 2015, ESPN removed Vitale from covering Duke-UNC basketball. He had covered every Duke-UNC game televised by ESPN since 1979.[12]

Vitale is a voter on the AP Top 25 men's basketball polls, the annual Naismith Award and the John Wooden Award.

Vitale called his first NBA game on television since the 1984 NBA playoffs, along with Dan Shulman, on January 7, 2009 when the Miami Heat played the Denver Nuggets as ESPN swapped its NBA and NCAA crews. During ESPN's first incarnation covering the NBA, he regularly covered games.

• Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee (class of 2008)
• College Basketball Hall of Fame inductee (class of 2008)
• University of Detroit named their basketball court "Dick Vitale Court" in his honor (2011).
• Little League Museum Hall of Excellence inductee (class of 2012).[15]
• New Jersey Hall of Fame inductee (class of 2016).
• 2019 Sports Emmy Award - Lifetime Achievement[16]
• Italian American Sports Hall of Fame (class of 2020).[17]

Vitale has authored ten books:

• "Dickie V's ABCs and 1-2-3s", Ascend Books (October 2010)
• "Living a Dream: Reflections on 25 Years Sitting in the Best Seat", Champaign, IL Sports Publishing LLC (January 1, 2003)
• "Dick Vitale's Fabulous 50 Players and Moments in College Basketball: From the Best Seat in the House During My 30 Years at ESPN", Ascend Books (October 6, 2008)
• "Time Out Baby!", Berkley (December 1, 1992)
• "Vitale", Simon and Schuster; 1st Edition (1988)
• "Dickie V's Top 40 All-Everything Teams", Masters Press (June 1994)
• "Tourney Time: It's Awesome Baby!", Masters Press, (December 1993)
• "Holding Court: Reflections on the Game I Love", Masters Press (November 1995)
• "Campus Chaos: Why the Game I Love is Breaking My Heart", Sideline Sports Publishing (December 1999)
• "Getting a W in the Game of Life: Using my T.E.A.M. Model to Motivate, Elevate, and Be Great" (Oct. 2012)
• "The Lost Season: A Look at What the Journey to the 2020 National Championship Could Have Been" (June 2020)

• Dick Vitale Online
• Vitale's "V-File" at ESPN.com
• Dick Vitale at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame