ESPN extends Dick Vitale

Dick Vitale is inextricably intertwined with college basketball, with his iconic voice, exuberant style and enthusiastic catchphrases melding into a soundtrack for nearly five decades of the sport’s history.

And the broadcasting great’s influence is sticking around next season, too, both in person on game days and through an addition to the college basketball calendar named in his honor.

ESPN announced Monday that Vitale has signed a contract through the 2027-28 season, while ESPN Events is launching the Dick Vitale Invitational — the first matchup being a season-opening tilt between Duke and Texas on Nov. 4 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Fittingly, the announcement comes on the 86th birthday of the affectionately known “Dickie V,” and months after Vitale returned to the airwaves after being gone for two years amid a fourth battle with cancer. The Basketball Hall of Famer, also a former college and NBA coach, has been with ESPN since its 1979 launch and called the network’s first college basketball broadcast.

AD accused of stealing

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida A&M University athletic director Angela Suggs was arrested Monday on fraud and theft charges for allegedly using a corporate credit card for personal use totaling more than $24,000 at her former job.

Suggs, 55, turned herself in and was booked at the Leon County Jail. She was later released on a $13,500 bond.

She was charged with two felonies: grand theft and scheme to defraud. She also was charged with four misdemeanor counts of false claims on travel vouchers.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said Suggs made wire transfers, cash withdrawals and personal purchases at casinos during business trips while CEO of the Florida Sports Foundation.

The investigation began last November after the FDLE received a criminal referral from the Florida Department of Commerce’s Inspector General, which audited Suggs’ business credit card purchases and corresponding travel reimbursements at the FSF.