Kevin Parrom's first-half action against Washington will be his last playing time of the season. Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

UPDATE, 10:54 p.m.: Kevin Parrom tweets: “I love all u guys thanks 4 all of ya support. Ill be ok. Just like mommy said Just another bump on the road. Ill be back stronger than ever!”

Basketball has been Kevin Parrom’s refuge. His safe place. The time when he can forgot about everything else that has happened in the last several months.

And now he won’t have that.

The Arizona Wildcats junior forward suffered a broken bone in his right foot in the first half of Saturday’s game against Washington. Surgery is needed. With nine regular-season games left, his season is over.

“Life’s not fair sometimes,” coach Sean Miller said after the loss, not yet knowing the extent of the injury. “From his perspective, it would be nice if he could just catch a break.”

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Pointed in the right direction? Sean Miller sees reasons for optimism. Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller, after a home loss to Oregon on Jan. 14, used his press conference opportunities to alternately blast his team’s effort and carelessness with the ball.

Neither has been a problem since then. Imagine that.

In the past three games, Arizona has played with passion and as if ball security were as precious as playing time. The Wildcats are coming off perhaps their most well-rounded game of the season Thursday night, an 85-61 victory over Washington State.

The Cats have won two of the past three games, with the loss at Colorado being avoidable if they had been merely awful from 3-point range rather than a horrific 3 of 20.

Hold the applause — considering the level of competition hasn’t been stellar — but the trends are moving in the right direction for Arizona, which is 14-7 overall and 5-3 in the Pac-12 heading into Saturday’s spotlight game against Washington.

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Kevin Parrom cuts to the hoop against Colorado last Saturday. Photo by Ron Chenoy-US PRESSWIRE

Arizona Wildcats forward Kevin Parrom estimates he’s at “97, 98 percent” physically. Close enough. No matter what number you put on it, his performance last weekend is reason for optimism.

Parrom put together his best back-to-back games of the season, leading a second-half surge at Utah after Solomon Hill was ejected. Parrom finished with 12 points, nine in the second half. He then had six points, five rebounds and two assists in 22 minutes at Colorado — more of the jack-of-all-trades stuff that makes him such a valuable player.

“If he can contribute at the level he contributed on this last trip, we’re going to be a much better team because we haven’t had him in that role at all,” coach Sean Miller said.

“Starting with the Washington homestand, we’re going to give him a bigger role and a bigger opportunity.”

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Coach Sean Miller hugs forward Kevin Parrom as he leaves the game in the final minute. Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

Certain parts of Arizona basketball history don’t need much explanation. The Block. The Streak. McClutch. Simon says championship.

Add one to Arizona’s archive: The Hug.

We knew Kevin Parrom’s entrance into Arizona’s season would be emotional, and it was. He entered Sunday’s game against Ball State with 15:24 to go after the first media timeout.

“Now on the court …” the public address announcer began.

And fans at McKale Center began to notice. There he was. On the court. Ahead of any schedule we had heard. Kevin Parrom was back after rehabbing lower right leg injuries suffered in a Sept. 24 shooting when he was home in The Bronx, N.Y., to visit his ill mother.

The crowd rose to a standing ovation.

It was a nice moment.

But it was the exit that everyone will remember.

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Arizona's Kevin Parrom hopes to soon be soaring for blocked shots. Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images

Arizona Wildcats junior wing Kevin Parrom continues to make progress from leg injuries suffered in a Sept. 24 shooting, and coach Sean Miller says, “We’re starting to count on him to join us in early December.”

Miller added at a Friday news conference: “There is a chance optimistically that it could be before that.”

Miller cautioned there could always be a setback in Parrom’s recovery, but it all sounds like good news for Parrom and the Wildcats, who could use his scoring, rebounding, defense and toughness.

Parrom, who could rejoin five-on-five practice in a little more than a week, is able to do a basketball workout on his own for about 45 to 60 minutes, “which is going to do nothing but give him more and more confidence and strength in his leg,” Miller said.

Parrom, who was shot while home in The Bronx, N.Y., to visit his ailing mother, has nearly regained the entire feeling in his lower right leg after suffering nerve and tissue damage.

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It will be a happy sight to see Kevin Parrom with a basketball in his hands. Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

LOS ANGELES — Forget wins and losses. The highlight of the Arizona Wildcats’ early season could be — will be? — the moment junior wing Kevin Parrom steps foot on the court.

Coach Sean Miller delivered more encouraging news about Parrom, who was shot last month while home in The Bronx, N.Y., to visit his ailing mother.

“It was five weeks ago to the day that he got shot,” Miller said Friday at Pac-12 Media Day.

“When he got shot, below his right knee didn’t work. He had no feeling, no movement, and there was no guarantee that it would ever come back. Five weeks from Friday, he can run.”

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Kevin Parrom is moving ahead quickly in his rehab. Photo by Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE

Arizona junior wing Kevin Parrom, recovering from a Sept. 24 shooting in which he lost feeling in his lower right leg, is on schedule to rejoin the team well before the end of the year.

“At one point, we talked about redshirting him,” coach Sean Miller said after Saturday’s Red-Blue Game. “That looks less and less likely because he continues to make weekly progress.

“We don’t anticipate him being ready for the start of the season, but we do anticipate him joining us down the road. That could be as early as mid-November, late November, early December.”

Miller said if Parrom’s absence extends into mid-December, then something caused Parrom to take a “major step back” in his rehab. Arizona plays six games by the end of November and nine games by Dec. 8.

“Still some uncertainty, but it’s good to see him make progress,” Miller said. “Like our team, he still has a long way to go.”

Parrom has not been able to practice — “other than shooting drills,” Miller said. — but Parrom did participate in lay-up drills before Saturday afternoon’s Red-Blue Game at McKale Center.

Parrom will leave Sunday morning to return home to The Bronx, N.Y., for the funeral of his mother, Lisa Williams. She died last Sunday after battling cancer. Miller said Parrom will return to Tucson on Wednesday.

He was shot while home in New York to visit his mother on Sept. 24.

The mother of Arizona Wildcats basketball player Kevin Parrom has died after fighting cancer for more than two years.

Parrom wrote this on his Twitter page Sunday night: “I Love You Momma! You Dont Have To Deal With No More Pain And Now You Can Watch Ya Baby Boy Make You Proud From Up Above. Love You Ma ! RIP”

Coach Sean Miller released a statement through the sports information office Sunday night:

“Today, Lisa Williams, Kevin Parrom’s mom, passed away. Our thoughts and prayers are with Kevin and his family at this most difficult time.

“I have never been around a young person who has dealt with more hardship in such a short period of time than Kevin.

“I ask all Arizona Wildcat fans to join us on Saturday, October 22nd at 2pm at our annual Red Blue game to be there when we introduce Kevin Parrom as a part of our 2011-12 team.

“He will rely on all of us here in Tucson for support in moving forward.”

Parrom was home in the Bronx, N.Y., last month to visit his mother when he was shot Sept. 24 at his father’s apartment, sustaining injuries to his left hand and right leg. Parrom’s status for the season is up in the air as he rehabs the leg injury.

He also has had to deal with the recent death of a grandmother.

Related: Parrom at ‘home’ in Tucson after shooting

Kevin Parrom doesn't know when he will be able to return to the basketball court. Photo by Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE

“Words cant define how i feel about tucson. I love you all thanks for all of your support thru these tough times.” — Kevin Parrom, on Twitter, Wednesday night.

Arizona Wildcats basketball player Kevin Parrom has bullet fragments in his upper right leg. His grandmother died this summer. His mother is fighting a two-year battle against cancer and is “critically ill,” according to UA coach Sean Miller.

Nobody knows when Parrom can play basketball again. Maybe this season. Maybe not.

“I’m grateful for being able to walk,” he said Wednesday.

He is about 2,500 miles away from his home in the Bronx, N.Y., where he was shot Sept. 24 while on a trip to visit his mother. Bullets injured his right leg and his left hand. Through all the troubles, all the worries, he is comfortably home here in the desert.

When everyone would have understood if he had taken a pass, Parrom participated in Arizona basketball Media Day on Wednesday.

He talked in general terms about the shooting — “your life flashes by you,” he said — and he playfully answered a question about what keeps him sane these days, responding, “I’m always going to be sane. I’m not crazy.”

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Arizona's Kevin Parrom tries to block a shot by Wesley Witherspoon of Memphis in the 2011 NCAA Tournament. Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images

A statement this afternoon from Arizona basketball coach Sean Miller on junior wing Kevin Parrom, who was shot in the leg Saturday morning while home in the Bronx:

“Kevin Parrom returned to Tucson last night. He will return to classes this week and also begin his rehabilitation process. We will know a lot more about his return to basketball activities in a month. At this time our focus is to provide him a comprehensive support system to allow him to progress to his full potential. Kevin, first and foremost, is fortunate to be alive.”

Parrom hasn’t lost his sense of humor. Responding to a well-wishing tweet from former Washington guard Isaiah Thomas, Parrom wrote:

“@Isaiah_Thomas2 thanks for the love. Idk what hurts more your shot that went in at the end of the game or the 1 i got this weekend smh lol”

Parrom was referring to Thomas’ game-winning shot in the final of the Pac-10 Tournament.

When leaving New York on Monday, Parrom tweeted: “Flight To Phx … I thank the lord that im here”

Parrom, a 6-foot-6 wing, averaged 7.6 points and 3.4 rebounds last season, averaging 20.1 minutes per game, mostly as a reserve. He shot 50.8 percent from the field (100 of 197) and 41.8 percent from 3-point range (38 of 91).

Practice begins Oct. 15. Arizona will hold its Red-Blue game on Oct. 22. A pair of exhibitions — Oct. 27 vs. Seattle Pacific and Nov. 1 vs. Humboldt State — precede the season-opener at home against Valparaiso on Nov. 7.