7 Albert Cummins

Albert Cummins was born Albert Barker Cummins in Brooksville, Kentucky on June 23, 1926, to Joshua “Punk” Cummins and Hazel Wells Cummins.

Cummins was a 1944 graduate of Brooksville High School and a member of their undefeated, heavily favored basketball team to win the state championship that year, only to fall short in the state semi-finals.  He played basketball for four seasons from 1941-1944, scoring 793 points.  Cummins won two District Championships in 1943 and 1944, and a Region Championship in 1944. He was named to the State All-Tournament team, and First-Team All-State in 1944. Other members of that same All-State team included Wallace Jones and Ralph Beard.  He also played baseball for Brooksville and was their ace pitcher and middle-infielder, where he won a Region Championship and State Runner-Up title in 1944.

Cummins, and the entire 1944 starting five was offered a scholarship to Kentucky by Adolph Rupp. Cummins, however, was drafted and served in the Navy in 1945 and 1946, where he played for the Treasure Island basketball team in San Francisco. He returned to Kentucky to play basketball in the 1947 and 1948 seasons, where he played in 38 games and scored 52 points, winning two SEC Championships. Kentucky would go on to be NIT Runner-Up in 1947.

He also lettered in baseball in 1947, but decided to transfer after that, leaving the Kentucky team that would win the 1948 and 1949 NCAA Championships. He transferred to Michigan State to play baseball, but was ruled ineligible his junior year in 1948. So, in 1949 and 1950, he played 2nd base for Michigan State, lettering both years. He led his team with a .367 batting average in 1950 with 43 hits, and was named a 2nd team All-American.

Cummins went on to play baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals minor league team in Allentown, PA for two seasons in 1951 and 1952.

In honor of his achievements, Cummins was inducted to the 10th Region Hall of Fame in 2018, and the Bracken County Athletic Hall of Fame in 2018.

Cummins and his wife, Ruth, both worked at General Electric, in Norwood, Ohio, through the 1950’s, returning to Cynthiana, Kentucky, where he built up a Ford dealership until the early 1970’s. In 1973, Cummins became president of UK’s Letterman Club, the K-men, for one year. He enjoyed watching sports on television, playing golf, reading, talking with friends, cutting up, and playing with his grandkids. In a later career that continued up through his 80’s, he worked as a Mutual Clerk at Keeneland Race Track, a job he thoroughly loved.

Cummins peacefully passed away Sunday, October 31, 2021.

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