Wolverine TV podcast: Spike Albrecht reflects on Michigan's 2013 run, his career, more
TheWolverine.com‘s Clayton Sayfie was joined by former Michigan Wolverines basketball guard Spike Albrecht (2012-16), a two-time team captain and the co-MVP of the 2015 squad, on this episode of the podcast. With Michigan holding the 10-year reunion of the 2013 national runner-up team, which will be honored at halftime of Saturday’s game, Albrecht discussed the journey, his career and more.
Albrecht broke down the mentality surrounding the 2013 team, among many other aspects. The Wolverines were 6-6 in their last 12 games entering the Big Dance but made it all the way to the final game, before falling by six points to Louisville.
“When we brought it in at the end of practices, it was ‘national champs on three.’ It wasn’t Big Ten Tournament champs on three,” Albrecht said. “We were obviously struggling and crawling into the finish line, but once we got into the NCAA Tournament, it was like, ‘OK, this is go time.’ We still got the best player in the country at point guard, which is huge, and we’ve got a bunch of pros around him.
“A lot of people were picking us to be upset that first round South Dakota State. They had that really good point guard. But when the NCAA Tournament came around, we had a different vibe to us, a little more pep in our step. It was like, ‘OK, this is the second season. Now let’s get it going.'”
Michigan did exactly that, beating South Dakota State, VCU, Kansas (in thrilling fashion), Florida and Syracuse to make the run to Monday night.
Albrecht’s career was highlighted by his 17-point first-half performance in the national championship game, though he was red-hot entering that night, having gone 5-of-5 from three-point range in the first five games of the tournament.
“All of the sudden, Trey picks up his first foul,” Albrecht said of Trey Burke getting in foul trouble, which opened the door for his playing time. “I was ready for it. I was for sure nervous, playing in a game of that magnitude versus those guards.”
He fared well, obviously, so much so that Louisville head coach Rick Pitino had to call timeout after one of his made layups. Albrecht and his entire team were fired up.
“I play with a lot of energy,” the former Michigan guard said. “I was super confident in myself, but the emotions were definitely at an all-time high, and I was probably saying some crazy things.”
Watch or listen to the entire Michigan podcast episode below.
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