Press & broadcasting / Sports
Dick Vitale
born 1939 · basketball coach, broadcaster
ESPN's famous college basketball voice, who first made his name coaching the University of Detroit Titans and then, briefly, the Pistons.
- Born
Passaic, New Jersey
age 87- Birth name
- Richard John Vitale
- Also known as
- Dickie V
- Detroit years
- 1973–1979
- Field
- Press & broadcasting, Sports
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Vitale was a New Jersey high school coach when the University of Detroit hired him in March 1973. On the McNichols Road campus he built the Titans into a national story: his teams went 78–30 in four seasons, including a 21-game winning streak in 1977 and a run to the NCAA tournament's Sweet Sixteen, and his boundless enthusiasm filled Calihan Hall. After the 1977 season he became the university's athletic director. In May 1978 the Pistons hired him as head coach, and he moved to the Pontiac Silverdome, but his first season was a struggle that landed him in the hospital with stress-related stomach problems, and he was fired twelve games into his second season, in November 1979. A few weeks later he called his first game for the new cable network ESPN, beginning a four-decade broadcasting career built on catchphrases such as "Awesome, baby!"
Highlights
- University of Detroit head coach 1973–1977 (78–30)
- Led the Titans to a 21-game win streak and the 1977 Sweet Sixteen
- Pistons head coach 1978–1979
- ESPN college basketball analyst from 1979
- Basketball Hall of Fame (contributor), 2008
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 1973–1978
Calihan Hall, University of Detroit Mercy
The campus arena where his Titans teams played.
Worked here · 1978–1979
Pontiac Silverdome
Demolished · 1975–2013
The Pistons moved here the year he became their coach; demolished in 2017–2018.