Kennedy’s Cummins Is No Secret Weapon : Garden Grove League: There’s no hiding play of 6-foot-4 forward, who averaged 14 points and 7.4 rebounds last season.

Sometime after he’s done with basketball and college, Jeff Cummins might go undercover.

Not that Cummins, the versatile 6-foot-4 forward at Kennedy High, is planning to stay in bed forever. Or disappear from public altogether.

What Cummins wouldn’t mind becoming is a new version of Eliot Ness, the FBI super agent glorified by Hollywood in “The Untouchables.”

“I’d like to go into the FBI, something exciting like that,” Cummins said. “I know I want to do something that will interest me and keep my life exciting.”

Until then, however, basketball will have to do. And Cummins plans to have plenty of fun with it this season and down the road.

As the undisputed leader of the Fighting Irish, Cummins is one of the reasons Kennedy is a heavy favorite to win the Garden Grove League title for the fourth consecutive time.

Now a senior, Cummins played in the shadow of former teammate Jermaine Galloway the last two seasons. But with Galloway gone to DePaul, the spotlight is about to fall on Cummins, even though he tries to keep a low profile.

“He likes to downplay his importance to the team,” Kennedy Coach John Mayberry said.

There’s little chance that Cummins will go unnoticed on the court, however. If he does, the Fighting Irish will be in big trouble.

Last season, Cummins averaged 14 points and 7.4 rebounds, and was among the county’s leaders in field-goal percentage (52.5%) and three-point shooting (26 of 60, 43.3%). His efforts earned him a spot on the all-league team.

The previous season, when he reached his goal of making the varsity as a sophomore, Cummins averaged 5.0 points and 5.3 rebounds.

His performance those two seasons, and particularly last year, impressed La Quinta Coach Jim Perry.

“In my opinion, he was the best player in the league as a junior. There’s no doubt in my mind,” Perry said. “For a high school kid, he is a very complete player. I don’t think he’s a huge standout in one area, but he’s pretty effective defensively, he can handle the ball, he can pass and he can shoot. He’s the backbone of that team.”

The Fighting Irish had to count on Cummins during a crucial Southern Section Division II-A playoff game against Troy last season, after Galloway fouled out. Cummins responded with 13 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter to help the Irish win, 54-47, and advance to the quarterfinals.

“That’s the game that stands out in my mind the most,” Cummins said. “That’s the happy game. The championship game is the other one, but that one didn’t end up too well.”

Kennedy lost in the finals to Trabuco Hills, 52-50, a few days after the victory over Troy. The defeat left Cummins yearning for another shot. And though the division is loaded with good teams--Artesia and Pasadena Muir, among others--Cummins might get his wish.

“I still want a CIF (Southern Section) championship,” Cummins said. “I was heartbroken last year.”

The last time the Irish won a section title, in Division 3-A in 1988, Cummins was at Walker Junior High in La Palma. He attended most of Kennedy’s games and dreamed about playing on the team, so he practiced religiously on the hoop with the wooden backboard his father, Mike, built for him in the driveway of the family home.

When he wasn’t outside, Cummins watched basketball on television to pick up pointers he could later practice in the driveway. He followed Larry Bird and the Celtics, but preferred the college games and tried to pattern himself after former Duke star Christian Laettner.

“I like Laettner a lot,” Cummins said. “I always thought he had a good all-around game. I like players who are real versatile. I’ve tried to become that type of player.”

He has pretty much succeeded, but hasn’t been able to keep it under cover.

1991-92 in Review

Team League Overall Kennedy 14-0 23-8 Rancho Alamitos 10-4 15-11 Santiago 9-5 17-9 Pacifica 8-6 10-14 Garden Grove 6-8 10-16 Los Amigos 5-9 8-16 La Quinta 3-11 4-21 Bolsa Grande 1-13 1-21

League MVP: Jermaine Galloway (Kennedy)