‘Michigan needs that edge’: Spike Albrecht talks Dusty May, Trey Burke’s shot and his incredible national title game

Albrecht played in 116 games for the Wolverines under John Beilein. He averaged 3.5 points per game and made 79 3-pointers. He was also part of the Michigan basketball team that reached the national title game, as well as the 2013-14 Michigan squad that won the Big Ten regular-season championship outright, in addition to making the Elite 8.

Spike finished his career with a season at Purdue, but he’ll always be known for his first half against Louisville. Trey Burke went to the bench with foul trouble and Albrecht connected on four 3-pointers. The Wolverines built a double-digit lead before the Cardinals rallied to win the game 82-76, but Albrecht wouldn’t have gotten the chance without Trey Burke’s legendary game-tying shot against Kansas in the Sweet 16.

“When (Trey) hit that shot, it was the coolest moment ever,” Albrecht said. “Big-time players make big-time plays and that was it.”

However, not long after, in the national title game, Burke picked up two first-half fouls, setting the stage for Albrecht to introduce himself to the nation.

Spike Albrecht’s one shining moment

“It was unbelievable,” he said. “It’s hard to put into words that experience (playing in a national championship game). You feel like you are hovering above the floor. It was euphoric.”

Albrecht scored 19 points in the five tournament games leading up to the championship game but exploded in a first half Michigan basketball fans will never forget.

“I felt good that whole tournament. I don’t know what it was,” he said. “It felt like every shot I took was going in. Even in the previous games. I just got more opportunities in that (national title) game. But never in my wildest dreams did I think I was going to play 20 minutes in the national championship game and score 17 points.”

“A lot of that had to do with them not guarding me all that well because they didn’t know who I was,” he added. “But it was pretty cool and it was so cool to see how excited my teammates were for me. And then my friends and family. It was a great experience for me, but looking back, it was cooler to see the guys on the bench going nuts because it was the most unexpected thing in college baskeball that year.”

Michigan basketball needs to bring back the buzz

Of course, some of the excitement surrounding Michigan basketball in general has died down in the past few seasons and Spike hopes Dusty May can re-ignite it.

“The hardest thing to see wasn’t the results — losing games or whatever,” Albrecht said. “I saw pictures on Twitter and there were 2-3 thousand people at games. I know it’s Michigan and it’s football, but we always had good crowds. But there wasn’t a lot of juice around the program in the last couple of years. I’m hoping there can be a shift and a change and Coach May can bring in some of that excitement and bring back that buzz.”

May is known for the culture he built at FAU and he’s already building strong ties to the Michigan basketball family and has reached out to many former players, including Albrecht.

Dusty May reaches out to former Michigan players

“Coach May had a press conference a week or a week and a half ago and two days later, even though he’s got a million things going on, he reached out — hit me up at like 8 AM — just to call and say what’s up,” Spike said. “He has some ties to my hometown but just wanted to introduce himself and make sure everyone feels welcome and part of the program. He wants to get people back and that to me, goes a long way. I know a lot of the other former players feel that as well.”

The former Michigan basketball guard didn’t make any bold predictions about the Wolverines under May but said he expects them to play hard.

“I’ll be the first to admit I haven’t watched every Florida Atlantic game. But I really liked watching them. One thing about Dusty’s teams is they are fiery. They are going to play hard and they are going to compete. I think (Michigan) needs some of that edge.”