The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/603303
BY CHRIS BALAS O ver the years, early news shows like "Good M o r n i n g A m e r i c a " have boosted ratings by landing interviews with star athletes the morning af- ter their teams have won champi- onships. Rarely, though, would you see a player from a losing team get the invite. Think of those mundane "it stinks we lost, but we'll get 'em next year" interviews with opposing coaches after Final Four contests — it's just not scintillating television. GMA producers made an exception on the morning of April 9, 2013, how- ever, and for good reason. Though Louisville had beaten Michigan in one of the more entertaining national finals in recent memory, U-M fresh- man guard Spike Albrecht had stolen the show with a 17-point first-half performance that was — and will likely remain — one of the best Final Four halves of all time. The combination of its improbabil- ity — he was a 5-11 rookie whose only other offer was Appalachian State, and he'd averaged only two points per game coming in — along with the national interest made him a great story. His Twitter following rolled over like a Vegas slot machine during the two hours in which he put on a show for the world in front of 75,000 fans and millions more watch- ing on TV. "There were definitely a few in- teresting people following me on Twitter and people were tweeting at me after the game," Albrecht re- called with a laugh. "When [basket- ball sports information director] Tom Wywrot said Good Morning America called and wanted me on the show, though, we decided not to do that, even though it was pretty cool that they considered it. But I wasn't try- ing to parade around after a loss." It was not his style, after all, or head coach John Beilein's. Later though, the Big Ten Network got him to talk during a special on the Wolverines' run, allowing Michigan fans to relive that special weekend all over again. It turned out the usually humble Hoosier state product did ad- mit to stepping out of his personality with a few, "They can't guard me!" shouts, about which he'd later poke fun at himself in saying, "Who am I to say something like that?" Nobody blamed him, though, and nobody's been laughing at him since. The guy once deemed too small for Division I basketball has since be- come one of the more important pieces to a program that's continued its ascent. Anyone who thought a great half of basketball on the biggest stage would satisfy him were proven wrong when he earned MVP honors last year after guards Derrick Walton and Caris LeVert went down with season-ending injuries. And now? The only goal is to prove he's still got it after two off- season hip surgeries. Coming back won't be easy, but he'll try to prove his detractors wrong again. "I've been doing that my whole life," Albrecht said. "You look at me and I don't look like a basketball player. I'm 5-11, short, always kind of played with a chip on my shoulder.