Purdue's Spike Albrecht takes one last shot in NCAA tournament
Spike Albrecht has no idea how, when or where his playing career will end.
All he knows is that it will end on his terms.
The scrappy guard with the nickname to match, who became a March Madness sensation for his big first half in the 2013 NCAA title game, is back in the Sweet 16. Only he plays for Purdue now, not Michigan, the change in uniform his defiant response to the injuries that cut short his final season in Ann Arbor.
“I just wanted another opportunity to play, wherever it was,” Albrecht told USA TODAY Sports after the Boilermakers beat Iowa State to reach their first Sweet 16 since 2010. “I didn’t want to end my career on the sidelines, due to injuries.
“Even if I never was able to get back to where I once was, I still wanted to do everything I could to give it a chance.”
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One of the many beauties of the NCAA tournament is how it can turn little-known players into cult heroes. Bryce Drew. Thomas Walkup. Ali Farokhmanesh. Fred VanVleet and Ron Baker.
And, thanks to his Pop-a-Shot contest with Louisville’s Luke Hancock in the 2013 title game, Albrecht.
Albrecht was a freshman that year, and an ordinary one at that. He had averaged all of 1.45 points before the tournament, never once hitting double figures. He was a backup, lucky to get 10 or 12 minutes a game.
But on that night, he might as well have been Steph Curry. He drained four three-pointers in the first half against Louisville, the basket looking so cavernous that fans were screaming for him to shoot it from 30 feet out.
At one point, Albrecht had almost single-handedly outscored Louisville, accounting for 17 points in Michigan’s 33-21 lead.
But Hancock went on a shooting spree of his own, scoring 14 points in a row to erase that deficit. Hancock would finish with 22 points, including 5-for-5 from three-point range as Louisville beat Michigan 82-76.
For a few days, however, Albrecht was a household name. (Alas, not enough to generate a response from supermodel Kate Upton, who Albrecht saw at the title game and tried to reach out to on Twitter.)
“Shoot, just the entire run leading up to it,” Albrecht said when asked his favorite memory. “The hype and everything, the attention, just building and building up to the Final Four. And then, obviously, all the support and love from the fans.
“Being a kid from a small town, as a little freshman, that was unreal to me to be a part of that.”
It would be the height of Albrecht’s career. Oh, he became a starter midway through his junior season, when he averaged 7.5 points a game and was named Michigan’s MVP. But a degenerative hip condition left him in constant pain, and he played his junior year with two torn labrums.
He had offseason surgery twice, hoping it would allow him to play his senior season at Michigan. He lasted just nine games.
“Last year kind of stunk,” Albrecht said.
Albrecht continued to rehab, and took a medical redshirt just in case. He eventually was given clearance to play again, but Michigan was already over its scholarship limit for this season. So Albrecht got his release and looked for a place to play as a graduate transfer.
When Purdue reached out, it seemed like fate. Albrecht grew up about an hour north in Crown Point, Ind., and had rooted for the Boilermakers as a kid.
“I started talking to coach (Matt) Painter. Then I came on campus and met all the guys, and I just felt it was a great fit,” Albrecht said. “Just a bunch of really good people and just genuine, somewhere I definitely could see fitting in well.”
Albrecht was under no illusions about his new role. He knew he wouldn’t be a starter, knew he might not even get much playing time.
But his limited role has taken on greater importance this week, as Purdue gets ready to face top-seeded Kansas on Thursday. This is new territory for the Boilermakers, who lost in the first round each of the last two years, but it’s not for Albrecht.
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“More than anything, just try to bring that calming sense,” he said. “I don’t take anything too serious, so I hope that rubs off on some of the guys. It’ll help if I can knock down some shots while I’m out there.”
Like another barrage of three-pointers, perhaps.
Regardless of whether Purdue’s run ends Thursday night in Kansas City or April 3 in Glendale, Ariz., Albrecht will be satisfied when he pulls off his uniform for the last time.
“Having this opportunity to come back and play again, I may not have had the best year for me individually, but I’ve been a part of a team that’s had a lot of success with a great group of guys,” Albrecht said. “It’s everything I was looking for in a fifth year.”
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