UNLV sophomore forward Joe Darger, shown in practice earlier this season, was raised in a polygamous home in Riverton, Utah. Today's game against the Utes in Salt Lake City will serve as somewhat of a family reunion for Darger, who will get to see his parents, many of his 17 siblings and his girlfriend. Photo by John Gurzinski.
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SALT LAKE CITY -- Going to school away from home, and following the hectic travel schedule of a college basketball player, UNLV sophomore Joe Darger rarely gets to see his family.
Some kids might consider that a lucky break. Darger sincerely values his time spent with family, saying his father, John, has been the biggest influence on his life.
As a youngster, Darger watched tapes of his dad's favorite player, Pete Maravich, so it's no wonder he grew up to be a shooter. When he would shoot baskets in the morning before school, his dad did the passing and rebounding.
"He's always been there for me, and my mom has always been there for me too," he said.
Two years ago, as a senior at Riverton High School, about 20 miles southwest of Salt Lake City, Darger decided to leave home. He drew interest from UCLA, considered Brigham Young and Utah and had scholarship offers from Arizona State and Utah State.
But he could not turn down the "family atmosphere" that Rebels coach Lon Kruger offered and headed for Las Vegas, saying, "I felt like it was the best place for me, and my family supported me."
Several of Darger's family members will be out to support him at 3 p.m. today as UNLV (21-6, 8-4) plays an important Mountain West Conference game against Utah (9-15, 4-7) at the Huntsman Center.
It's a perfectly normal situation for a family reunion, but the Darger family is tied together a little differently -- in the form of polygamy.
"My dad has two wives," Darger said. "I didn't really understand it when I was younger. I thought it was normal until I got a little older and realized that I was the only one I knew out of all my friends that my parents lived that way.
"It was kind of weird at first, but I got used to it and it didn't bother me a bit. I like having a big family. It's fun growing up to always have a lot of brothers and sisters to hang out with and play with, and we all get along real well."
John Darger has fathered 18 kids through three marriages. His first marriage produced two kids and ended in divorce. Joe's mom, Carollee, has eight kids. John's other wife also has eight kids.
Joe Darger has nine brothers and eight sisters, including half-brothers and half-sisters, ranging in age from 3 to 30.
"It's a lot of fun, a lot of good kids," said Joe, who expects at least 12 of his siblings and his parents to be at today's game.
Joe Darger said he is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, though the LDS church excommunicates polygamous groups, which refer to themselves as Mormon fundamentalists.
Darger was raised to follow Mormon beliefs and said he practices the Mormon lifestyle, which means avoiding alcohol, tobacco and premarital sex, staying well groomed, using clean language and taking everything in moderation, among other things.
"I followed most of those guidelines growing up," he said. "When I was in high school, sometimes I found myself hanging out with the wrong crowd a little bit. I've had a few drinks in my life and I did a few things like that. But for the most part, I've stayed pretty clean.
"I stay away from alcohol and drugs. It's pretty easy being an athlete; you always have an excuse to stay away from it. There have been a few times that I've slipped up, like everybody slips up in life a few times."
About 80 percent of the people in Riverton are Mormon, Darger said, so there was not a lot of peer pressure steering him down the wrong path.
"If you hang around a lot of kids who drink, smoke and do drugs, you're more likely to do it. I tried to hang out with good kids and good people as much as possible," he said. "I had friends who would drink and do things like that. I kind of slowly stopped hanging out with them."
Kruger, no wild and crazy guy himself, praised Darger's character and said the 6-foot-8-inch sophomore forward is not short on personality.
"Joe is probably a little bit quieter on the surface than he is when he gets with the guys. Behind the scenes, I think he's a little bit different than what he may appear initially," Kruger said. "He's just a really good guy who's liked by his teammates."
Darger is learning to play the guitar, and his favorite movie is "Dumb and Dumber."
What he would really like is to play more quality minutes for the Rebels. Darger is the team's top scorer off the bench at 6.2 points per game, and among regular players he's the top 3-point shooter at 39 percent (32-for-82).
After scoring in double figures in six of his first 11 games, he has hit double figures just once in the past 13 games -- a 12-point effort as a starter in a victory at Texas Christian on Jan. 20.
"At the beginning of the season, I was playing a lot more, and lately my time has dropped," he said. "It kind of discourages you a little bit, but you've got to learn to stay positive, keep your head up and be ready to help the team."
Darger was Utah's Class 5A scoring leader at 22.8 points per game as a senior, so filling a secondary role is an adjustment.
"It's a long season and guys' confidence level goes up and down, and Joe's in a moment right here where he's not shooting with as much confidence. He will bounce back," Kruger said. "Joe's biggest function is to make shots. You know his effort is going to be great, and his interest level is great."
Another person Darger is looking forward to seeing today is his girlfriend, Lindsay Hazelgren, who two months ago transferred from Dixie State College in St. George, Utah, to Salt Lake Community College.
They have been together three years, but no wedding is being planned.
"We've talked about it a little bit, but we really haven't made any serious plans," Darger said. "We're not quite ready to take that step."
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