Wikipedia

Spike Albrecht

Michael Joseph "Spike" Albrecht (born August 24, 1992[1]) is a former college basketball player who completed his collegiate eligibility as a redshirt fifth year graduate transfer student for the 2016–17 Purdue Boilermakers team. Albrecht played high school basketball in his hometown of Crown Point, Indiana. He played his undergraduate college career for the Michigan Wolverines.[2] He is most well known for his 17-point first half performance off the bench for the 2012–13 Wolverines in the championship game of the 2013 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. He won Big Ten Conference regular season championships with the 2013–14 Wolverines and 2016–17 Boilermakers.

Spike Albrecht
Albrecht at the 2013 NCAA tournament against Louisville
Purdue Boilermakers
PositionGraduate Assistant
Personal information
Born (1992-08-24) August 24, 1992 (age 32)
Crown Point, Indiana, U.S.
Listed height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Listed weight175 lb (79 kg)
Career information
High schoolCrown Point
(Crown Point, Indiana)
Northfield Mount Hermon
(Gill, Massachusetts)
College
NBA draft2017: undrafted
Career history
As coach:
2019–2020Northfield Mount Hermon (H.S., assistant)
2020–2021Louisville (GA)
2021–presentPurdue (GA)

Early life

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At age five, Michael Albrecht, son of Tammy and Charles "Chuck" Albrecht,[3] received his first baseball spikes and refused to take them off, earning his now famous nickname.[4] Chuck now runs a summer basketball camp at which Spike assists.[5] Albrecht attended Taft Middle School in Crown Point before attending Crown Point High School where he averaged 21 points, five assists, three steals and four rebounds as a senior in 2011.[5][6] Albrecht committed to Michigan on April 6, 2012.[7] Albrecht led Northfield Mount Hermon School to the 2012 New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC) Class AAA Boys' Basketball Tournament, defeating future Michigan teammate Mitch McGary's Brewster Academy in the semifinals. Albrecht was awarded the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the tournament. Albrecht was a former Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) teammate of McGary and future Michigan teammate Glenn Robinson III.[8] Albrecht's father was college teammates with Zack Novak's father; a generation later, when Spike Albrecht was an incoming freshman, Zack Novak was Michigan's captain during the 2011-12 season.[9]

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Spike Albrecht
PG 		Crown Point, Indiana Crown Point High School (IN)/
Northfield Mount Hermon School (MA) 		6 ft 0.5 in (1.84 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Apr 6, 2012 
Recruiting star ratings: Rivals:    247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 79
Overall recruiting rankings:   ESPN: 112 (PG), 36 (IN)
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "Michigan 2012 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
  • "2012 Michigan Basketball Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
  • "ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
  • "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
  • "2012 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved January 28, 2014.

College career

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Michigan (2012–2016)

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Freshman season (2012–2013)

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The 2011–12 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team had been co-champions of 2011–12 Big Ten Conference,[10] but lost both of its co-captains, Zack Novak and Stu Douglass, to graduation and three players as transfers.[11][12] The team was returning a nucleus of All-Big Ten players Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr.[13]

Michigan–Minnesota 2013–14 Big Ten season opener
 
 

In Albrecht's role with the 2012–13 Wolverines team, he never scored more than 7 points in a game before the NCAA Tournament.[14] In the regional finals on March 31 against Florida, Michigan built a 13–0 lead and never led by less than 10 the rest of the game.[15][16] Several players had career-highs in the game, including Albrecht who had 7 points and 3 steals.[17] The national championship rounds were held at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia. In the April 6 national semifinal against Syracuse, Michigan emerged with its thirty-first victory, the most since the 1992–93 team went 31–5. The bench contributed 22 points, including 6 from Albrecht, who raised his NCAA tournament total to 5-for-5 on three-point shots.[18][19]

Michigan advanced to the April 8, 2013 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament championship game where the team lost to Midwest number one seed Louisville by an 82–76 margin despite 17 points, including 4-for-5 three-point shooting, from Albrecht in the game.[20] Albrecht scored 17 first-half points on 4-for-4 three-point shooting.[14] Albrecht made the seven-man All-Tournament team (which was revised multiple times) along with teammates McGary and Trey Burke.[21][22] By the end of the first half of the game, Albrecht had tied Sam Cassell by making his first 9 three-point shots in his NCAA tournament games that season, and USA Today described Albrecht's place in history as "amongst the most unexpected NCAA heroes in history".[3]

Sophomore season (2013–2014)

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Albrecht for the 2014–15 Wolverines at Welsh-Ryan Arena
 
 

Albrecht established a career high with 6 assists as Michigan defeated Houston Baptist by 54 points on December 7, 2013.[23][24] On January 22, 2014, against (#10 AP Poll/Coaches' Poll)[25] Iowa, Albrecht made his first career start, posting new career highs of 7 assists and 4 steals, tying a career high with 3 rebounds and helping Michigan defeat consecutive ranked opponents for the first time since the 1996–97 team.[26][27] Albrecht started in place of Derrick Walton who had the flu.[28] Michigan clinched its first outright (unshared) Big Ten Conference championship since 1985–86.[29] The 2013–14 team advanced to the elite eight round of the 2014 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament before being eliminated by Kentucky.[30]

Junior season (2014–2015)

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Albrecht was named co-captain of the 2014–15 team along with Caris LeVert.[31][32] On November 29, he contributed a then career-high 7 assists against Nicholls State.[33][34] Then on December 2, Albrecht posted a new career high with 9 assists and broke a 63–63 deadlock with a 31 seconds remaining to lead Michigan to a 68–65 victory over Syracuse.[35][36] On January 3, 2015 against Purdue, Albrecht tied his career high with 17 points.[37] On February 1 Albrecht tallied a career-high 18-points in the rivalry game against Michigan State.[38][39] The March 3 double-overtime loss against Northwestern marked Albrecht's 8th consecutive double-digit scoring game as he picked up the scoring slack in the absence of Caris LeVert and Derrick Walton, who missed their 11th and 9th consecutive games.[40][41] On March 7 against Rutgers, the streak ended, but Albrecht posted a career-high 9 assists.[42][43] In April 2015, Albrecht had offseason surgery on his right hip to correct for a genetic condition.[44][45] On December 2, Albrecht was named an Allstate Good Works Team nominee.[46][47][48]

Senior season (2015–2016)

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On December 11, 2015, Albrecht announced he would sit out the rest of the season for the 2015–16 Wolverines team due to injuries. During his career at Michigan, Albrecht played in 115 career games, and was named Michigan's co-MVP during the 2014–15 season, after starting 18 of 31 games and posting a career-best 7.5 points per game, while battling hip problems.[49][50][51] On March 29, Albrecht announced that he would use the graduate transfer option to play a fifth year at another school.[52] On April 1, head coach John Beilein decided not to restrict Albrecht or teammate Ricky Doyle from transferring to schools within the Big Ten if they desired to do so.[53] By April 18, Albrecht was considering interest from home state Big Ten programs Purdue and Indiana as well as Wichita State, Texas A&M, Syracuse, USC, and Milwaukee (where Michigan assistant coach LaVall Jordan had just taken over as head coach).[54][55]

Purdue (2016–2017)

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It was announced on May 3, 2016, that Albrecht would play his final year of collegiate basketball at Purdue University.[56] With their win over Indiana on February 28, 2017, Purdue clinched at least a share of the Big Ten regular season championship.[57] With Wisconsin's loss on March 2, Purdue clinched an outright championship, their 23rd championship, the most in Big Ten history.[58]

Coaching career

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After earning his graduate degree from Purdue in 2017, Albrecht began his professional career in medical device sales.[59] By October 2019, Albrecht was living in Nashville.[60] Albrecht spent the 2019–20 season as an assistant coach at Northfield Mount Hermon.[61] During the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, Albrecht began giving ball handling instructional videos with his sister on Zoom Video.[59] Also in March 2020, Albrecht emailed Louisville's director of men's basketball operations, Kahil Fennell, (as well as someone at Villanova); Fennell responded that same day. Albrecht joined the Louisville staff as a graduate assistant in June.[62] On May 28, 2021, Albrecht came back to Purdue as a graduate assistant.

References

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  1. ^ "Spike Albrecht Bio". MGoBlue.com. Archived from the original on June 22, 2017. Retrieved April 9, 2013.
  2. ^ "Spike Albrecht HS". MaxPreps.com. Retrieved April 9, 2013.
  3. ^ a b Chase, Chris; Auerbach, Nicole (April 8, 2013). "Spike Albrecht is the surprise NCAA championship MVP". USA Today. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  4. ^ Kaduk, Kevin (April 8, 2013). "How did Spike Albrecht get his nickname?". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  5. ^ a b Hutton, Mike (June 19, 2013). "HUTTON: Spike Albrecht ready to tackle next challenge at UM". Post-Tribune. Archived from the original on June 24, 2013. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  6. ^ Osipoff, Michael (April 6, 2012). "Crown Point's Albrecht commits to Michigan". Post-Tribune. Archived from the original on September 27, 2013. Retrieved April 7, 2012.
  7. ^ "@GoodmanCBS status". Twitter. April 6, 2012. Retrieved April 7, 2012.
  8. ^ Baumgardner, Nick (April 6, 2012). "Michigan basketball picks up 2012 commitment from prep school point guard Spike Albrecht". AnnArbor.com. Retrieved April 7, 2012.
  9. ^ Hanlon, Steve (February 26, 2008). "Fathers will backs sons as rivals during sectional". Northwest Indiana Times. Retrieved April 7, 2012.
  10. ^ "Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament Release: 2012 Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament features five of nation's top 15 teams". BigTen.org. CBS Interactive. March 6, 2012. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
  11. ^ "Novak, Douglass, Burke Honored at End-of-the-Season Banquet". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. April 10, 2012. Archived from the original on June 23, 2017. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
  12. ^ "Smotrycz, Christian, Brundidge Decide to Leave Program". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. March 21, 2012. Archived from the original on June 23, 2017. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
  13. ^ "Big Ten Announces 2012 Men's Basketball Postseason Honors: Michigan State's Green named Big Ten Player of the Year". BigTen.org. CBS Interactive. March 5, 2012. Archived from the original on September 30, 2012. Retrieved March 6, 2012.
  14. ^ a b "Louisville outlasts Michigan to win national championship". ESPN. April 8, 2013. Retrieved April 9, 2013.
  15. ^ "Michigan routs Florida en route to 1st Final Four berth since 1993". ESPN. March 31, 2013. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
  16. ^ "(4) Michigan 79 (30–7, 12–6 Big Ten); (3) Florida 59 (29–8, 14–4 SEC)". ESPN. March 31, 2013. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
  17. ^ "Postgame Notes: #10 Michigan 79, #14 Florida 59". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. March 31, 2013. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
  18. ^ "(4) Syracuse 56 (30–10, 11–7 Big East); (4) Michigan 61 (31–7, 12–6 Big Ten)". ESPN. April 6, 2013. Retrieved April 7, 2013.
  19. ^ "Postgame Notes: #10 Michigan 61, #16 Syracuse 56". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. April 7, 2013. Retrieved April 7, 2013.
  20. ^ "(4) Michigan 76 (31-8, 12-6 Big Ten); (1) Louisville 82 (35-5, 14-4 Big East)". ESPN. April 8, 2013. Retrieved April 9, 2013.
  21. ^ "(4) Michigan 76 (31–8, 12–6 Big Ten); (1) Louisville 82 (35–5, 14–4 Big East)". ESPN. April 8, 2013. Retrieved April 9, 2013.
  22. ^ "WSU's Early Named To Final Four All Tournament Team". KAKE. April 9, 2013. Archived from the original on September 27, 2013. Retrieved April 9, 2013.
  23. ^ "Houston Baptist 53 (3-6, 1-6 away); (22) Michigan 107 (6-3, 5-1 home)". ESPN. December 7, 2013. Retrieved December 7, 2013.
  24. ^ "Postgame Notes: #22 Michigan 107, Houston Baptist 53". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. December 7, 2013. Archived from the original on June 1, 2014. Retrieved December 7, 2013.
  25. ^ "Wednesday's Men's Basketball Schedule". BigTen.org. CBS Interactive. January 22, 2014. Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  26. ^ "Michigan tops Iowa, sets up clash of conference unbeatens vs. Spartans". ESPN. January 22, 2014. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  27. ^ "Postgame Notes: #21 Michigan 75, #10 Iowa 67". MGoBlue. CBS Interactive. January 22, 2014. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  28. ^ Kaufman, Simon (January 22, 2014). "Spike steps up in Walton's absence". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 26, 2014.
  29. ^ Mercer, David (March 4, 2014). "No. 12 Michigan wins outright Big Ten title with rout of Illinois". ESPN. Associated Press. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  30. ^ "(8) Kentucky 75 (28-10, 12-6 SEC); (2) Michigan 72 (28-9, 15-3 Big Ten)". ESPN. March 30, 2014. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
  31. ^ Snyder, Mark (November 15, 2014). "Michigan hoops announce LeVert, Albrecht as captains". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved November 16, 2014.
  32. ^ Quinn, Brendan F. (November 15, 2014). "Once unknown recruits, Caris LeVert, Spike Albrecht to serve as Michigan's 2014-15 team captains". MLive.com. Retrieved November 16, 2014.
  33. ^ "No. 19 Michigan routs Nicholls St 91-62". ESPN. Associated Press. November 29, 2014. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
  34. ^ "Postgame Notes: #19 Michigan 91, Nicholls State 62". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. November 29, 2014. Archived from the original on December 1, 2014. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
  35. ^ "Spike Albrecht's late 3-pointer helps Michigan get past Syracuse". ESPN. Associated Press. December 2, 2014. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
  36. ^ "Postgame Notes: #17 Michigan 68, Syracuse 65". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. December 2, 2014. Archived from the original on December 9, 2014. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
  37. ^ "Michigan Loses Halftime Lead, Falls at Purdue". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. January 3, 2015. Retrieved January 4, 2015.
  38. ^ "Postgame Notes: Michigan State 76, Michigan 66 (OT)". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. February 1, 2015. Retrieved February 23, 2015.
  39. ^ "Michigan St shuts out Michigan in OT, beats Wolverines 76-66". ESPN. Associated Press. February 1, 2015. Retrieved February 23, 2015.
  40. ^ "Postgame Notes: Northwestern 82, Michigan 78 (2OT)". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. March 4, 2015. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  41. ^ "Demps, Olah lead Northwestern over Michigan 82-78 in 2OT". ESPN. Associated Press. March 4, 2015. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  42. ^ "Postgame Notes: Michigan 79, Rutgers 69". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. March 7, 2015. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  43. ^ "Dawkins scores 31, Michigan beats Rutgers 79-69". ESPN. Associated Press. March 7, 2015. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  44. ^ Dauster, Rob (April 8, 2015). "Spike Albrecht undergoes hip surgery, out 4-to-5 months". NBC Sports. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  45. ^ "Spike Albrecht undergoes hip surgery, faces 4-5 months of rehab". ESPN. Associated Press. April 8, 2015. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  46. ^ "Allstate Good Works Team Nominees: Seven Big Ten men's basketball students named nominees, shining a spotlight on standouts who have shown dedication to service in their communities". BigTen.org. CBS Interactive. December 2, 2015. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  47. ^ "NABC, WBCA and Allstate announce Good Works Teams nominees". National Collegiate Athletic Association. December 2, 2015. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  48. ^ "Albrecht Among Candidates for Allstate NABC Good Works Team". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. December 2, 2015. Archived from the original on December 6, 2015. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  49. ^ "Albrecht Announces End of Career for Wolverines". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. December 11, 2015. Archived from the original on December 14, 2015. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
  50. ^ Murphy, Dan (December 11, 2015). "Wolverines fan favorite Spike Albrecht ends career over nagging hip injury". ESPN. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
  51. ^ Snyder, Mark (December 11, 2015). "Spike Albrecht ending U-M career because of injuries". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
  52. ^ Goodman, Jeff (March 29, 2016). "Spike Albrecht to seek graduate transfer after Michigan release". ESPN. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
  53. ^ "Statement from Michigan Head Coach John Beilein". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. April 1, 2016. Archived from the original on April 4, 2016. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
  54. ^ Quinn, Brendan F. (April 19, 2016). "Spike Albrecht considering Purdue, Wichita State, Indiana, Syracuse, others, per ESPN". MLive.com. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
  55. ^ Goodman, Jeff (April 18, 2016). "@GoodmanESPN status update". Twitter. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
  56. ^ Goodman, Jeff (May 3, 2016). "Ex-Wolverines PG Spike Albrecht to play for Purdue". ESPN. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  57. ^ "Indiana vs. Purdue - Game Recap - February 28, 2017 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  58. ^ "Purdue Mens Basketball Clinches Outright Big Ten Championship". Big Ten Conference. Archived from the original on March 4, 2017. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  59. ^ a b Boyd, James (May 11, 2020). "Crown Point grad, former Michigan star Spike Albrecht hosts basketball workouts via Zoom". The Times of Northwest Indiana. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
  60. ^ Quinn, Brendan (June 8, 2020). "The strange tale of how Spike Albrecht landed at Louisville (!?) as a GA". The Atlantic. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
  61. ^ Aulbach, Lucas (June 7, 2020). "Christen Cunningham and Spike Albrecht (yes, THAT Spike Albrecht) join UofL coaching staff". Louisville Courier Journal. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
  62. ^ Boyd, James (June 18, 2020). "Former Crown Point, Michigan star Spike Albrecht accepts position as Louisville grad assistant". The Times of Northwest Indiana. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
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