Who is the face of basketball?

In college sports, players leave before a school or city even gets to know them. At the… In college sports, players leave before a school or city even gets to know them. At the most, a college athlete is on the roster for five years — counting a redshirt year. Therefore, it is not the players that represent the sport, like say a Michael Jordan in basketball, or Babe Ruth in baseball.

The figurehead in college football might just be Lee Corso, or maybe it’s Bobby Bowden. However, in college basketball there is no denying the figurehead of the sport is Dick Vitale. He exemplifies everything that college basketball stands for. When Vitale is at your school, you know that the program has reached national respect.

At the beginning of the season, Vitale was not schedule to come to Pitt. But just last week, Vitale chose to come watch the marquee game of the week — Pitt vs. Connecticut.

Sunday, Pitt happened to be the place where Dickie V found out he is on the ballot for the college basketball Hall of Fame this year. Vitale was told this news by his broadcast partner Brent Musburger during the telecast. Vitale broke down in tears.

His love and passion for the game of college basketball are unprecedented. He represents a sport where players are not paid and there are no labor disputes. For more than 20 years, Vitale has enthused fans with his various sayings during a game. But, while he is amazing on the microphone, it is away from the television that makes Vitale even more impressive.

Vitale walked into the Petersen Events Center on Sunday for the second time ever. Everywhere he went, press and fans bombarded him, looking for an autograph or a picture or a good quote. Needless to say, he signed for everyone, and spoke to every reporter.

One hour before game time, Vitale did promos for the game. Not one, not two, but about 60 different promos for different cities around the country he recorded and not once did he need a second take.

Then it was time to mingle with the crowd, a tradition Vitale has become accustomed to. He always talks to students and has his picture taken with the crowd.

Vitale said that he has gained a great appreciation for the Petersen Events Center and for the Pitt program in general. He was impressed with what he saw and believes Pitt has what it takes to go all the way this year.

“[Pitt] can flat out beat anybody,” Vitale said. “There are about 12 teams that can beat [Pitt] but they can beat anybody on any given day. There is nobody out there that you can say will blow [Pitt] away. Not Duke — none of those teams.”

Vitale said that he was also impressed with the atmosphere in the Pete. Winning for the 40th straight time at home might have something to do with that.

“[The atmosphere in the Pete] is as good as it gets with the Oakland Zoo going bananas,” Vitale said. “Winning 40 in a row leads to a great environment. With all the kids into it, it gives such a great impetuous and adrenaline to a team. I think it leads to a better effort. The atmosphere makes you play harder defensively. It makes you rebound better. All the physical attributes come out with the crowd cheering you on.”

Vitale left the Pete the exact way he came in — with a smile on his face — and signed thousands of autographs for fans who had been waiting outside in the cold for one peek at college basketball’s premier name.

Now it’s on to another game and another city for Vitale. But for one day, Pitt stood out above the rest of the nation as the place to be for college basketball. The atmosphere was great, the game was great, but Vitale was here to complete the national attention given a Pitt basketball program that four years ago wouldn’t have even dreamed of a day like Sunday.

Brian Goldman is a staff writer for The Pitt News and believes the game Sunday was awesome, baby, with a capital A.