The Chicago Cubs said they wanted VCU coach Shaka Smart to sing "Take Me Out to The Ballgame" during one of their games this season, but now they've added throwing out the first pitch, too.

On May 8, when the Cubbies take on the Reds, Smart will sing the famed seventh inning stretch song and throw out the ceremonial first pitch. For Smart, the entire day will be in memory of his grandfather, Walter King, whom he credits with taking him to his first Cubs game and getting him interested in the team in the first place. King passed away on March 29 at age 91 after battling congestive heart failure and kidney failure.

"Some of my fondest memories with him are going to Wrigley Field, sitting on the first base side trying to catch some foul balls," Smart told "The Waddle & Silvy Show" on ESPN 1000 on March 28. "Chicago is my favorite city in the whole country, and I've spent a lot of time in the city of Chicago as a kid," Smart said. "It was kind of a second home for me."

Last year, Butler coach Brad Stevens threw out the first pitch and sang "Take Me Out to The Ballgame" during a game after his Bulldogs reached the national championship.

VCU made the Final Four despite facing immense criticism by basketball pundits for making the NCAA tournament field in the first place. The Rams won a play-in game against USC and proceeded to beat Georgetown, Purdue, Florida State and Kansas to earn the school's first Final Four appearance and the second for the Colonial Athletic Association.