Arizona quarterback Willie Tuitama has been to Las Vegas just once in his life, when a middle-school basketball tournament took him to the desert for a long weekend.
Tuitama will feel more at home for Saturday's Las Vegas Bowl game against BYU.
Four of Tuitama's cousins — linebackers Masi Tuitama, Matt Ah You and Iona Pritchard and safety Shiloah Te'o — are on the BYU roster.
The Wildcats' quarterback also has family in Sin City, including distant cousins who perform at the Tahiti Village resort on the Las Vegas Strip. Those who aren't Nevada natives will travel from Northern and Southern California and Salt Lake City to watch Tuitama play.
The Tuitamas expect about 200 family members to be in the stands for the game, Willie's last as a college player.
"To play them and have family come over to watch all of us is real nice," Willie Tuitama said.
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That is, unless you're in charge of divvying up tickets.
"People think we have all kinds of free tickets," said Lui Tuitama, Willie's dad. "We had six free tickets and we had to buy four more on our own. And we'll have a couple-hundred-plus people at this game."
Tuitama's large extended family is part-cultural, part-religious.
Lui Tuitama — and his 11 siblings — were born in Mapusaga, American Samoa, and raised in Kehaka, Hawaii, as members of the Mormon church.
Lui and his wife, Nancy, raised Willie and his sister, Tiare, as Mormons — even though sports sometimes forced them to miss services.
"Pop Warner was played on Sundays — it was the only time we could get the field," Lui Tuitama said. "We would have gone to church, but a lot of the time we couldn't get to the church. Willie was on a travel baseball team and my daughter was on a travel volleyball team.
"People from church would call and ask, 'Where are you guys?' I'd be sitting at a baseball diamond in Palm Springs or at a gym somewhere. I know every gym between Seattle and Arizona."
Willie Tuitama said he still considers himself "Mormon — in a way."
He was taught many tenets of the Mormon faith but doesn't practice the religion. He is friendly with his BYU cousins but isn't particularly close to any of them.
"Those guys really don't talk that much. They have their practice and go about things their way," he said. "It'll be nice to see them and play against family. That's something special to hold on to."
Arizona's week ahead
Today:
4-6 p.m.: Practice on campus
Tuesday:
2-4 p.m.: Practice on campus
5:30 p.m.: Depart for Las Vegas
6:30 p.m.-bedtime: "Entertainment Night" in Las Vegas (no formal events planned)
Wednesday:
11:15 a.m.-1:15 p.m.: Closed practice at UNLV's Rebel Park.
4-6 p.m.: Welcome reception at ESPN Zone.
7-9 p.m.: "Stomp Out Loud" show at Planet Hollywood
Thursday:
9:30-10:30 a.m.: Visit to Sunrise Children's Hospital
11 a.m.-1:15 p.m.: Closed practice at UNLV's Rebel Park
6-7 p.m.: Outback "Buffet Bowl" at Fremont Street Experience, Downtown
Friday:
11-11:45 a.m.: Kickoff news conference at Las Vegas Convention Center
Noon-2 p.m.: Kickoff luncheon
2-4 p.m.: Walk-through at Sam Boyd Stadium (closed to the public)
6-7 p.m.: Pep rally at Fremont Street Experience, Downtown
Saturday:
5:06 p.m.: Las Vegas Bowl kickoff
Willie Tuitama by the numbers
200
Tuitama's family members expected at Saturday's game
52
Tuitama's first cousins on his father's side, including BYU's Masi Tuitama, Matt Ah You, Iona Pritchard and Shiloah Te'o
6
Free tickets given the Tuitama family for Saturday's game
$50
Cost, per ticket, for all extended family members to attend
