Get to know Ball State transfer Darin Conley, one of Washington's newest defensive linemen
An avid gardener, a multi-sport star in high school and part of UW's d-line overhaul.
Darin Conley studied business administration at Ball State, and he studied it well. The defensive tackle was one of six Cardinals named last week to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District team, and was at least eligible to be nominated as an Academic All-American, which requires a minimum 3.5 grade-point average.
His focus might be on accounting or finance, he said, but the dream is to eventually blend his business education with his true passion: agriculture, and particularly gardening, a hobby — “almost an obsession,” actually — that dates to elementary school.
“A lot of people know me as a plant guy,” Conley said last week from his family’s home in Kansas City, not long after Washington signed the 6-foot-3, 285-pound sophomore from the transfer portal. “That’s one of the reasons I was so intrigued about Washington, with it being in Seattle — all the greenery, all of the trees and nature.”
He’d never been to the Pacific Northwest before his official visit to UW’s campus, but his apartment in Muncie, Ind., certainly fit the vibe.
“A lot of house plants. A lot of vining plants,” Conley said. “I’ve grown micro greens, I’ve grown gourmet mushrooms before. If you step into my apartment, you would see all that stuff kind of in the windowsill, and some big plants that take over the space, almost.
“I’ve got to get some when I’m in Seattle, because I can’t bring them on the plane with me.”
When we spoke last Wednesday, Conley was nearly finished packing for a Thursday morning flight to Seattle — he actually stepped away briefly to take a call from the apartment complex he was moving into — where he’ll begin making the transition from the MAC to the Big Ten as part of Washington’s almost entirely new d-line room. He planned to make the initial trip by himself, with his parents visiting this week to help him get set up.
He has a twin brother, Devin, who plays basketball at Emporia State, and an older brother, Quinton, who plays tight end at Kansas; as a junior at Kansas City’s Pembroke Hill School, Darin and his brothers were three of four legs of a relay team that ran the 4x100 in 43.76 seconds, a school record at the time, and the three brothers were starters together on Pembroke’s basketball team. Each were all-district selections. Darin also was all-state in the shot put and triple jump and still holds school records in both.
Darin chose Ball State over Vanderbilt out of high school and, as a third-year sophomore in 2025, finished with 28 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and 25 pressures while playing 533 snaps, second-most on the Cardinals’ defense (he played 313 snaps as a redshirt freshman in 2024). He was Ball State’s third-highest-graded defensive player by Pro Football Focus, and has two seasons of eligibility remaining.
Get to know a bit more about one of Washington’s newest players — why he chose the Huskies, the role he envisions within UW’s defense, how he gained 100 pounds since high school and plenty more — in this Q-and-A. (Questions and responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.)