SAN DIEGO — A fellow San Diego State University athlete will be singing the national anthem prior to the Aztecs’ men’s basketball crucial Final Four game against the Florida Atlantic University Owls.

April Ranches, a fifth-year senior and golfer at SDSU, says student-athletes whose schools made it to the Sweet 16 were asked to submit video auditions for the Final Four national anthem.

Last week, Ranches, also a San Diego native, was selected by the NCAA as the SDSU athlete to sing the anthem, should the Aztecs make it to the Final Four, and advance they did.

From that point on, Ranches says she’s been prepping for the moment.

“This will be my first performance in front of a real audience,” she said. “I will say it does help a lot being an athlete and having crowds watching.”

The San Diego community will be ready to rally on Ranches and the Aztecs on Saturday at 3:09 p.m.