Dick Vitale was diagnosed with cancer again

Dick Vitale, former ESPN basketball analyst, says he has been diagnosed with cancer for the third time.

Vitale tweeted on Wednesday that he had surgery this week in Boston and tests showed he has vocal cord cancer. He said he will undergo six weeks of radiation.

“I plan to fight hard to be ready to call games when the college basketball season kicks off in the fall,” Vitale tweeted, adding that his doctor “thinks that scenario is very possible.”

Vitale, 84, has previously been treated for melanoma and lymphoma. Last April, he celebrated being cancer free.

Vitale has been with ESPN since 1979, the year the network started. He called ESPN’s first college basketball broadcast. He is also a long time fundraiser for cancer research.

Vitale helped friend Jim Valvano on stage at the 1993 ESPYs, where Valvano gave his famous “Don’t give up” speech. Valvano died of adenocarcinoma less than two months later.