Former Michigan Basketball Player Spike Albrecht Will Transfer to Purdue

Spike Albrecht may have been a fan favorite with the Michigan Wolverines, but he'll be finishing his college career with the Purdue Boilermakers.

Excited to announce that I'll be playing my 5th year for Purdue University!! #BoilerUp

— Spike Albrecht (@SpikeAlbrecht) May 3, 2016

Albrecht follows in the footsteps of former UM center Max Bielfeldt, who transferred to Indiana last season.

Here are Michigan Coach John Beilein's comments on the matter per the Detroit Free Press:

"Anytime you have to play those guys (the next season), it's very awkward," Beilein said Monday night at the Ufer Quarterback Club dinner, where Albrecht was to receive an award. "You just do the best you can with it. That's another discussion for some other time. It is awkward for us, but that's the wave of it today, that kids are going to be able to transfer to a lot of different places... If that's what the NCAA and ADs and presidents think, then we go by it."

Because Albrecht is a graduate transfer, he'll be playing against his old team next year without having to sit out a season. Beilein at first tried to keep Albrecht and Ricky Doyle from going to any schools on the Wolverines schedule, but those types of restrictions are increasingly becoming a thing of the past.

On the flip side, Albrecht has said he wanted to stay at Michigan, but Beilein reportedly said that Michigan didn't need "three quarterbacks" on the team. The 5-10 point guard will try and get more playing time with the move back to his home state.