Michigan Basketball: A Farewell to Spike Albrecht

Michigan basketball just isn’t going to be the same without Spike Albrecht. Here’s a farewell to the baby face assassin.

Spike Albrecht is one of the unlikeliest stories of the past few years in college basketball.

He was a gifted player in high school, but incredibly undersized. No colleges really gave him a serious look when it came to recruiting him. He wasn’t even remotely close to being a highly-touted recruit. When Michigan offered him a scholarship and he accepted, all it seemed like was a late pickup at a needed position, but nothing special.

Few really expected much of Albrecht outside of some bench minutes when the team had big leads or Trey Burke needed a break.

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Albrecht was overshadowed by his fellow recruits. He was an afterthought of the “Fresh Five.”

Mitch McGary was the big-name recruit who became a fan favorite over the season with his incredibly enthusiastic style of play, and eventually made himself one of the top performers in the NCAA Tournament.

Glenn Robinson III was the son of the Glenn Robinson, the former first overall pick in the NBA Draft, 1994 Big Ten Player of the Year and two-time NBA All-Star.

Nik Stauskas was a lights-out shooter who would grow into one of the most electrifying players of the John Beilein era of Michigan basketball.

Caris LeVert was another somewhat under-recruited player who was limited to bench minutes, but his upside was more immediately evident than Albrecht’s.

Meanwhile, Spike was this 5-foot-11 point guard who had little interest from teams outside of the Appalachian States of the world. He rode the bench for most of the year, coming in to give Burke some rest. He only averaged 8.1 minutes per game and 2.2 points per game. He was a relative non-factor.

That is, until Michigan needed him the most.

He started to see more action during the team’s incredible Final Four run. Albrecht had meaningful contributions off the bench in the games against Florida and Syracus. Then against Louisville, Spike went off. With Burke in early foul trouble, he saw some more extended minutes and made the absolute most of it. Against the eventual NCAA Champions, Albrecht racked up 17 points in the first half, including four straight 3-pointers.

Here was an undersized player who hadn’t played anything close to meaningful minutes replacing the consensus college player of the year in the championship game, and he was dominating. After the game, he tweeted at Kate Upton and it became viral. Spike would no longer be an afterthought on the team.

The Louisville game would be the biggest highlight of Albrecht’s career, but it was far from the only highlight.

Spike could dazzle with a half-court bounce pass to set up a dunk in transition, or confuse defenders with beautiful behind-the-back passes.

The next year, he became a key contributor off the bench for Derrick Walton. He finished the season averaging 14.8 minutes per game and shooting around 40 percent from the field. That Michigan squad had a historically great offense, and Spike was a huge contributor in that regard.

Last year, he ended up having to start after injuries to LeVert and Walton left the team without both starting guards. With them out and only walk-ons and underclassmen beneath him, Spike led the team. He shot at just around the same numbers as he did before, except he played about 20 more minutes per game. Without Spike’s veteran presence and leadership, that season could have been even more tumultuous.

Spike’s game developed amazingly well since his time as a freshman. His 3-point shot was what set him apart in that Louisville game, but the most lethal weapon in his arsenal was his pass.

Spike could dazzle with a half-court bounce pass to set up a dunk in transition, or confuse defenders with beautiful behind-the-back passes.

Albrecht also was surprisingly great at taking the ball to the hoop. Although everybody was bigger than him, he had almost superhuman ability to twist and turn his body to set up a layup. His performance, especially last year, was enough that people could compare him to somebody like Steve Nash and have it taken seriously.

Albrecht was never the star on any of the teams he played. Even after his breakout, he was still playing with players who would go pro or have potential to go pro. Yet he was a star, and he shined for the Wolverines to prove he was more than a one-game wonder.

He made those present-and-future NBA players better. You could start him and have him set up the offense, or have him come off the bench to provide a spark. He was a vocal leader, and he was tenacious on the court.

Seeing Spike Albrecht play was unreal at times, especially considering the past few years he was doing all of this while playing hurt. His career with the Wolverines may be over, but fans will remember the 5-foot-11 guard from Crown Point, Indiana for a long time.

Next: Where Michigan will miss Albrecht the most

Best wishes to Spike as he recovers from the injuries and surgeries that cut his Michigan career short.

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