Ann Arbor — At home, he was struggling to get out of his bed. In class, he was struggling to get out of his chair.
And, yet, when he was on the basketball court, Spike Albrecht, in typical fashion, refused to hold back a lick, diving for loose balls as recently as last week, his aching body be damned.
But, the harsh reality was, his surgically repaired hips — one operation in April, another the very next month — were not improving.
And, so, with his voice cracking on occasion, Albrecht, a fan favorite and an Internet sensation following his magical performance in the national championship game as a freshman in 2013, announced the end of his career Friday afternoon.