Orange County Prep Player of the Week : Adam Keefe Is Low-Key, but His Numbers Aren’t

As a basketball star, Adam Keefe of Woodbridge High School is about as flashy as a bowl of oatmeal.

Substance? Keefe has plenty. Sugar-coated bravado? Forget it.

Ask him about his 32 points and 15 rebounds in the Warriors’ 68-60 overtime victory over Banning for the Southern Section 2-A championship Saturday. Or his career-high 34 points and 22 rebounds in a 73-65 semifinal victory over Victor Valley last Wednesday.

Keefe, a 6-foot 8-inch junior center who is The Times’ Player of the Week, will quietly credit his teammates for his success.

Ask him about his averages of 22.8 points and 13.5 rebounds this season, and he’ll say he’s just getting his job done.

Ask him to offer an insight into his pregame routine. (Does he envision great battles off the boards? Ponder his opposition?)

“I try not to get too involved,” Keefe said. “I usually sleep a lot at the gym until we have to get dressed.”

Keefe is not one to lead cheers or bash lockers. He never has been. When Vince Bryan, a Woodbridge forward, first met Keefe in fifth grade, he said Keefe was one of the quietest kids at Stonecreek Elementary.

“All I really remember is he was this tall, redheaded kid with freckles and no tan,” Bryan said. “But he did have good court sense even then.”

And common sense. Keefe knew he had some potential for basketball, and he joined a youth league at the Newport Harbor Boys’ Club--the breeding ground for future Corona del Mar players such as Markus Muller-Stach and Darren Morris.

Although Keefe never became a star at the Boys’ Club, he improved each year and made the varsity team as a freshman at Woodbridge.

“In ninth grade, I was uncoordinated, really,” Keefe said. “I was 6-4, 155, and in games, I’d only play half the time.”

“I looked up to him (as a freshman),” Bryan said. “He was very advanced, but a few people on junior varsity were jealous of his moving up so fast. He handled it well.

“We did a lot of imitations of how people play. When Adam was a freshman, we’d go under the basket and pump fake about a hundred times. That’s what he used to do so he could get fouled, then get his points at the line.”

But after a summer of lifting weights, practicing post moves and working with Des Flood, a shooting coach, in Anaheim, Keefe returned as a very capable sophomore and averaged 18.7 points and 12.5 rebounds a game.

Keefe is careful to share the glory.

“I was co -MVP last year, with Mike Murphy (now playing at University of Redlands),” Keefe said.

But, whether he likes or not, Keefe is the Warriors’ leading man this season.

“He’s humble, (but) it’s real clear that he’s the reason we won 25 games this year,” said Bill Shannon, Woodbridge coach. “We could see he had a great deal of potential early on. And I know he’ll be an even greater player next year.”

Next year. A frightening thought for those who will face Keefe, who is still growing. An enticing thought for colleges hoping to recruit him.

“I haven’t really thought about it (college),” Keefe said. “I just do what I do and enjoy it.”