Duke's Coach K calls Dick Vitale's public cancer fight 'God's work'

David Thompson, USA TODAY NETWORK
·2 min read
Dec 3, 2013; Durham, NC, USA; Dick Vitale wears a wig and glasses from the Cameron Crazies before the Duke Blue Devils play the Michigan Wolverines at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Dolejs-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 3, 2013; Durham, NC, USA; Dick Vitale wears a wig and glasses from the Cameron Crazies before the Duke Blue Devils play the Michigan Wolverines at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Dolejs-USA TODAY Sports
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DURHAM — Dick Vitale sent Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski a text message Monday morning with a link attached about his return to the broadcast booth.

A month prior, ESPN's Hall of Fame college basketball analyst had been diagnosed with lymphoma only three months after undergoing surgeries to remove melanoma.

Despite his cancer fight, the 82-year-old Vitale will call the first game of his 43rd season on Tuesday, featuring No. 1 Gonzaga vs No. 2 UCLA in the Good Sam Empire Classic.

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Coach K, a longtime friend of Vitale's, responded to his text.

"I said, I'm so proud of you. You doing this shows the thousands of people with cancer that you're going to fight it," Krzyzewski said.

Vitale has called countless games over the years ar Cameron Indoor, and two of his grandsons, Connor and Jake Krug, play tennis for the Blue Devils. The two have worked together for decades to raise money for cancer research through the Jimmy V Foundation.

Coach K added that Vitale making his cancer fight public was "God's work."

"This guy, he's a really special guy," Krzyzewski said. "Over the last three decades, there's no one who has promoted the game of basketball any better than Dick Vitale. He's a sensational guy."

Vitale released a statement earlier this month saying going back to work "is the best medicine I could ask for."

"To all of you, I simply say thank you from the bottom of my heart for your prayers and messages, phone calls and texts," he said in his statement. "They gave me energy and lifted me up at a time that is not Fun City.”

David Thompson is an award-winning reporter for the USA Today Network covering NC State and Duke athletics. He can be reached at dthompson1@gannett.com, at 828-231-1747, or on Twitter at @daveth89.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: Duke's Coach K supports analyst Dick Vitale during fight against cancer