JOHN BEILEIN LOVES SPIKE ALBRECHT......LIKE A THIRD COUSIN!

That John Beilein is quite a guy, right? He can coach basketball and grow apples with one hand tied behind his back. Awesome, dude! And the Michigan Faithful like to talk about how much he loves his players, what a "family atmosphere" he engenders in the Crisler Center. And my, how they like to TALK!

But why, then, is Beilein running his major college basketball program like a minor league baseball club? We've noted how he treats college students like free-agents, signing them all for a year or two at a time - - - THREE MAXIMUM.

Let's take Michael Joseph Albrecht for example, also known as "Spike". Here's a kid who came to UM as a walk-on, then forged his way into folk-hero status by hitting four three-pointers in the first half of the 2013 National Championship game. His game-day luster earned him a full scholarship, just as soon as enough guys dropped out of school to make room for his full-ride.

After deciding to offer Albrecht, Beilein told Carroll: "I love this kid. I'm either in a lot of trouble or I'm going to be a genius."

-USA Today, 4-4-14 

Beilein carried on about him like he was an adopted son, electing him as a Captain, and even defending the poor boy for trouble getting to class the morning after a late-night game in New York City. What a Proud Papa Beilein was to Albrecht!

“The leadership right now of Caris and Spike has really been tremendous,” John Beilein said. “On the court those two have shown as good of leadership as we’ve had to this point. We’ve got a long season (ahead), but there is no question that they are in charge of this team right now.”

“He has had as good a fall as anybody that we’ve had,” John Beilein said. “I’d encourage him to shoot more. If anyone saw him at Crown Pointe, he was a scorer who could play point, not a point guard who could score.”

-John Beilein, before the Junior season of Spike Albrecht

Then Spike started to show signs of wear and tear, eventually needing major hip surgery that threw his athletic future up for grabs. But that didn't stop Papa John from pushing for Spike's return. Beilein wanted Albrecht back on the court LAST YEAR so bad we could almost taste it when we heard him speak. The former walk-on seemed like the #1 recruit in America for the Wolverines.

But something behind the scenes wasn't "quite right". Albrecht consistently raised doubts about his impending return, while at the same time Beilein seemed to be counting on it. The situation came to a bizarre turn when Spike preemptively announced his "retirement" from college basketball after the season had already started. We all felt bad for the scrappy little point-guard, and we - - - right here on this web site - - - hailed his efforts and what he stood for and wished him the best.

But before the season ended, rumors began circulating about his return to the hardwood. It appeared that he was coming "out of retirement" at age 22. It looked like Beilein would have his Greatest Love back on the court in yellow shorts again.

Until it didn't look that way. The hemming and hawing from Beilein reached record-levels of ambiguity and ambivalence as nobody could predict whether the Prodigal Son would be allowed to make his return. There was no scholarship available for the Captain of the team. And the inside word from Ann Arbor was that Spike was no longer needed since the next new guy was already on the way.

"We missed them in every moment," said Michigan coach John Beilein after Saturday's game. "We missed them in the beginning of games, the end of games, in the locker rooms, in practice, we missed a lot of it."

-Beilein, talking about Albrecht (and Caris Lavert) on "Senior Day" 

So it goes with John Beilein. He granted Albrecht his release, initially trying to prevent him from landing at another school in the B1G Conference. After Jim Harbaugh's Assistant, Warde Manuel, told Beilein to change his orders, he did so, and Spike was allowed to choose from all 350 Division One schools for a final season as a so-called "Grad Transfer".

Now we learn that Spike Albrecht his headed to Purdue, virtually his hometown-school, taking extensive knowledge of the Michigan System with him. It's at least the THIRD TIME that a player has left Beilein's program with eligibility remaining and joined another conference school to compete against Michigan. Max Bielfeldt did so last year (Indiana), and Evan Smotrycz a few years ago (Maryland).

So how can any reasonable observer sustain the claims that Beilein actually cares about his players beyond what they can do for him on the court "right now"? Many UM fans actually like the business-like nature of his system, but is it the "right way" to run a college program? Why are so many players and coaches walking away from Crisler and leaving Ann Arbor?

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Tweet ****** The purpose of this web site is to expose the mainstream media bias that consistently portrays Michigan in a favorable light under any and all circumstances. We present current facts and review historical records to show that UM is not all they are cracked up to be. This process involves information that is negative by nature, offered as a counter-balance to the biased picture we all see on a regular basis in the mainstream media. These negative facts may involve Wolverine teams, players, coaches, administrators, and/or fans. We are here to prove that Michigan is NOT AS DIFFERENT as they want us all to believe.