Biologically, of course, UNLV small forward Joe Darger has only one mother and one father. It’s his dad, John — whom it might help to imagine being played by Bill Paxton — who made things interesting by bringing a second wife into the home. The Riverton, Utah-born Darger is the first progeny of an “out” polygamous family to make it in Division I since BYU star and Bucks forward Fred Roberts. Actually, I should probably look that Fred Roberts part up. It’s almost certainly not true. Anyway, the New York Times’ Lee Jenkins has the story:
They wear red T-shirts, blow on red noisemakers and wave red pompoms. They appear no different from any other group in the U.N.L.V. family section ” only larger and louder.
œWe cheer for all the players, said John Darger, Joe™s father. œWe like to get a little rowdy.
John Darger is married to Carollee Darger, Joe™s mother. He is also married to Elizabeth Darger, the mother of eight of his children. He calls himself a polygamist…
Fifteen of Joe™s family members drove to Las Vegas on Saturday for the team™s regular-season finale. They came in a three-car caravan, six hours from their home in Riverton, Utah. They left Riverton after a morning baptism and arrived at the Thomas & Mack Center just in time for tip-off.
Pregame introductions at the Thomas & Mack are not to be missed. They are basketball™s version of a Las Vegas show, with fireworks exploding from the scoreboard, flames shooting up from each basket and cheerleaders strutting across the hardwood in faux leather uniforms.
This does not seem like a place for a Mormon who left the student dorms last year when he learned they were coed. But Joe has found a home at U.N.L.V., perhaps because the family here is nearly as open as his own.
Dating to the days of Jerry Tarkanian, U.N.L.V.™s famous former coach, the Rebels have been noted for running the fast break and for accepting players who are out of society™s mainstream.
And just like that, the paper of record has linked a 6-7 Mormon to Tyrone Nesby. I don’t know who that’s unfair to, but it doesn’t quite seem right. Also, careful with that Nesby link: there’s a Ukrainian fan site with weird MIDI-hip hop on the other end. On the plus side, the site — Nesbyworld.com — does feature brief MP3 clips of T-Nes’ R&B efforts.