Dickie V's birthday a gift for everybody

Famed broadcaster gets an extension from ESPN -- but also a new event named for him, which will feature Duke vs. Texas. Plus: Notre Dame grabs another 2026 prospect., Seton Hall adds frontcourt depth, breaking down Big East revenue and much more.

Author

Mike Miller
June 10, 2025

Good morning! Teams started summer workouts last week, which means you’ll see the occasional social media highlight of players hooping, running, and starting to bond. It’s great to see, but makes me wish the season were closer.

Let’s get to Monday’s news.

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1. Duke-Texas to open inaugural Dick Vitale Invitational

Dick Vitale had himself one incredible 86th birthday.

The Hall of Fame broadcaster spent Monday celebrating a new contract with ESPN and the announcement of a new event featuring his name: The Dick Vitale Invitational, which will feature Duke vs. Texas in Charlotte, N.C. on Nov. 4 as its first game.

Will it irk a certain subset of fans that Duke’s on the call for a Dickie V game? Probably. But who cares? It’s a helluva tribute to one of the game’s legends.

Vitale has battled cancer the last two years and sparingly called games in that time so his throat could recover. His new contract, which runs through 2027-28, means he’ll have been at ESPN almost 50 years. But that tenure doesn’t mean you get your own event.

In fact, it’s been Vitale’s other work that warranted this.

Beyond being perhaps the best brand ambassador the sport’s ever had, Vitale’s also been been fundraising money for cancer research for years. The V Foundation (founded by former coach Jim Valvano, who died of cancer) announced last month that the 20th annual gala in Vitale’s name had raised $12.5 million for pediatric cancer research in the past year — and more than $105 million in its history.

I’d say that’s worth having an annual event named after you.

2. Notre Dame gets second 2026 commit in 2 days

Purdue isn’t the only school in Indiana that can land a 7-footer.

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