Dick Vitale, born in the year 1939 as, Richard John Vitale, popularly known as "Dick Vitale" is a sports commentator of American Basketball Club. He was a coach of his college basketball team. Dick Vitale is famous for his catchphrases like "this is an awesome baby", "diaper dandy". He is also famous for his enthusiastic commentary during games. He has written nine books and done a cameo in many movies.
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As far as his personal life is concerned, Vitale is an American born commentator who grew up in East Rutherford, New Jersey. His father was a press operator and a security guard. The former was his second job. His mother who died from the stroke worked in a factory. Due to an accident involving a pencil, Vitale lost his left eye vision. In 1963, he got his graduation from Seton Hall University. Later, he got his master's degree from the William Paterson University.
CAREER
Ever since his childhood, Dick's favorite sport was Basketball. In fact, in his school team, he was selected as an active player in his first try. He went on to represent his school team in a district level Basketball championship. Apart from this, he was also a reputed member of the school's Literature and Drama club. Dick’s talent as a narrator was discovered by his high school physical education teacher, James Edward Patterson.
His first big break came when he was invited as a commentator in a reputed annual local championship, where he was spotted by another senior and famous commentator, who went on to invite him to work as a junior in his firm. Soon, he became renowned as a basketball commentator owing to his soft and calm voice, with which he gracefully narrated the game's immediate happenings.
As a coach at Garfield, New Jersey, he got his first job. Vitale joined as assistant coach in 1971 at Rutgers Universty. He was called by University of Detroit in 1973 to become the head coach. Detroit played 32 teams NCAA tournament under Vitale as coach in 1977. Detroit won 21-game winning streak and recorded 78-30 record during Vitale' tenure. Vitale named as the Universty Athletic Director in 1977. Detroit Pistons in 1978-79 under the coaching of Vitale made many records as a 30-52 record. Bill Davidson, Pistons owner on 8 November 1979 told Vitale that he was making a coaching change. The maneuver that brought Bob Macadoo in Piston was the main reason for Vitale's downfall.
Afer departure from Detroit Piston, Vitale got his first TV opportunity by ESPN. Vitale had also done commentary in more than 40 games in 2004-05 season. Vitale was removed from covering the Duke-UNC basketball by ESPN in 2015.
He had appeared in many roles in some of the movies such as The Naked Gun(1988), Blue Chips(1994), Love and Basketball(2000), Homes of the Gaint (2007). Richard currently holds a high net worth which happens to be around twelve million American dollars. Vitale has achieved all the success and recognition, owing to his persistent hard work and unquestionable talents.
Last Modified: Mar 6, 2020
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