SARASOTA (SNN-TV) – Following a successful Friday night, where over $11M was raised at the 17th Annual Dick Vitale Gala to benefit pediatric cancer research, the Suncoast native is receiving a special honor.
Dick Vitale, the longtime ESPN college basketball broadcaster and Hall of Famer, will be the recipient of the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance at this year’s ESPYS.
The Jimmy V Award is named after the late Jim Valvano, Vitale’s former broadcast partner at ESPN who gave a famously impassioned speech about living with cancer when he was honored with the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the first ESPYS in 1993. Vitale presented Valvano at the awards show that night.
Vitale announced in August that he had undergone multiple surgeries to remove melanoma. In October, he announced he had been diagnosed with lymphoma.
His chemotherapy treatment for lymphoma forced him to step back from ESPN’s college basketball coverage. But, Dickie V announced in April that he is cancer-free.
This year’s ESPYS will be broadcast live July 20th at 8pm on ABC.
