Coach's 5-year-old daughter goes viral with national anthem

Louisville women's basketball coach Jeff Walz first heard his daughter sing the national anthem while she was in her playroom last week.

He was amazed.

So was his team after it heard a recorded rendition of 5-year-old Lucy singing the "The Star-Spangled Banner" Thursday night before the Senior Night game against Georgia Tech. The video has since spread, appearing on "Today" on Saturday morning.

"I was really proud of her. It's really something else," the coach said Saturday. "She's been coming to all of our basketball games for so many years that it just has stuck with her."

A few days earlier, Lucy and sister Lola had invited their parents to their playroom, where they were staging their own Senior Night game for Cardinals star Dana Evans.

"Luce got up with her little microphone, and I was shocked," Walz said. "She knew every, single word."

Walz asked her to sing it at the Cardinals' KFC Yum Center so he could tape it, fibbing that the tape was for her great-grandfather, who is 98. It was played on the scoreboard during Senior Night.

When Lucy saw herself on the scoreboard Thursday, she wasn't thrilled with her dad.

"She told me, 'You should have just told me, Dad,' " Walz said. "I knew, though, she wouldn't have wanted to do it if I told her."

ASSOCIATED PRESS