Arizona junior Kevin Parrom is one of the key players for the 2011-12 team. Photo by Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE

Arizona Wildcats junior basketball player Kevin Parrom was shot this weekend while home in the Bronx visiting his mother, according to a statement from athletic director Greg Byrne.

The story was first reported by Adam Zagoria of zagsblog.com. He reported that Parrom was shot in the right leg early Saturday morning “in an apparent dispute over a woman.”

Parrom initially was in stable condition, according to Zagoria’s story, although the extent of the injuries in regard to his basketball status is not known.

“I have been in contact with Kevin and his family throughout the weekend and look forward to his return to Tucson and being back in class this week,” Arizona coach Sean Miller said in a statement.

“Our focus is on Kevin’s health right now. Once we have more information, we’ll be able to address his potential return to team activities.”

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Yeah, Derrick Williams can shoot the 3, but this is an even higher-percentage shot.
Photo by Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE

I sat down with Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller last summer, and one of things I wondered about was where the 3-point was going to come from this season.

Arizona had lost its most frequent launcher — Nic Wise — and while Kyle Fogg and Jamelle Horne had posted high percentages, none of the other returning players averaged more than one 3-pointer per game.

Miller said the Cats would fine … although perhaps for the wrong reasons.

He pointed to a strong-shooting recruiting class, of which freshman guard Jordin Mayes has lived up to billing. Junior college transfer Jesse Perry has done so, too, but not for his 3-point touch. Freshman guard Daniel Bejarano, known for his shooting, hasn’t been a factor.

It was basically impossible to see this coming:

–Derrick Williams, who was 4 of 16 from 3-point range last season, is 41 of 68.

–Kevin Parrom, who was 2 of 14 last season, is 38 of 90.

–MoMo Jones, who was 10 of 53, is 25 of 78.

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Kevin Parrom clutches his ankle after he landed on the foot of a Texas player on Sunday. Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images

Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller delivered good news Tuesday afternoon about the status of sophomore wing Kevin Parrom for the Duke game.

Parrom suffered a sprained ankle in the first half against Texas on Sunday; he returned only briefly. Miller said after that 70-69 victory that Parrom’s availability could be limited this week.

Now, he’s more hopeful.

“Kevin has made a lot of progress. That is one positive thing,” Miller said.

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Kevin Parrom blocks a shot against Washington State.
Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller said he is mulling over some potential lineup changes for the final week of the regular season, but he is certain about one thing:

Sophomore forward Kevin Parrom will be playing more, whether he starts or not.

He and starter Solomon Hill mostly tag-team the position, although Parrom has size and skills that allow him to play from the shooting guard position to a power forward spot.

Any changes come after Arizona lost twice on the road last week at USC and UCLA.

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Kevin Parrom never makes it easy for opponents around the basket.
Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

The Arizona Republic’s Doug Haller landed a one-on-one interview with Arizona Wildcats sophomore Kevin Parrom this week.

You can read the full interview here (and, of course, we encourage you to do so), but here is an excerpt:

Q: A year ago at this time Arizona was 13-13 and it was becoming clear your NCAA Tournament streak was going to end. What’s changed?

A: “We’re more of a team. We have a lot chemistry. Guys know their roles. When they come in, they know what they have to do. And then, we just get Derrick the ball. I mean, he’s the most efficient player in college basketball right now. He either scores or he gets fouled and goes to the free throw line and scores. We work everything through him, and if they double-team him, then we have some great guards on our team like myself, Solomon Hill and Lamont Jones that can knock down shots.”

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Kevin Parrom (left) helped lead the overtime effort after Derrick Williams fouled out.
Photo by Chris Morrison, US-PRESSWIRE

Nothing helps a team’s confidence, its chemistry, more than winning a close game on the road against a good team.

Not to mention winning in triple overtime.

With your star player on the bench.

The Arizona Wildcats, playing their craziest, most blood-pumping game of the season Saturday night, pulled out a 107-105 victory at Cal behind the New York swagger of point guard MoMo Jones and wing Kevin Parrom.

Arizona, back in the AP rankings for the first time in more than three years, is still climbing … and so much more seems possible than you might have dared to dream a few weeks ago. The Wildcats have won five in a row — three on the road — and are 20-4 overall. They lead the Pac-10 at 9-2.

“Sometimes in the long season that we go through, wins like this are very meaninful,” coach Sean Miller said in his postgame radio interview on KCUB 1290-AM. “Tonight, that’s certainly the case.”

Parrom scored 13 points through the overtime periods and had a career-high 25 points. Fellow sophomore Jones had 27 points, including 12 in the overtimes. He extended the game with a 3-pointer near the end of the second overtime.

Derrick Williams fouled out late in regulation with 12 points and 18 rebounds.

“I don’t think I have ever — nor has any of us — felt that we a one-man show,” Miller said.

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Arizona freshman forward Kevin Parrom, who has missed the past four games because of a foot injury, likely will be in uniform when the Wildcats play UCLA on Thursday in the opening game of the Pac-10 tournament.

Beyond that, who knows?

“We’re optimistic that Kevin will be available for the game, dressed and able to play,” coach Sean Miller said Tuesday afternoon. “How effective, I’m not sure. …

“He’s making progress. He’s not 100 percent. He can’t damage himself further by playing in the window that we have left. I’m sure we’ll give him an opportunity. It won’t be a big one, but maybe he can add some depth to what we already have and hopefully in that brief time he can be effective.”

Parrom’s value is mostly in his defense, in his ability to guard perimeter threats. He was a starter before being sidelined by the injury, but his role Thursday, if any, would be as a reserve, Miller said. Parrom is averaging 4.5 points and 4.3 rebounds in 16 games.

Kevin Parrom

Arizona freshman forward Kevin Parrom likely is out for the final regular-season games of the season, Thursday against UCLA and Saturday against USC.

Coach Sean Miller, on Tuesday morning’s Pac-10 coaches teleconference with reporters, said Parrom is “probably going to miss the ending.” Miller added: “But as you can tell, he’s going to be a pivotal part of our future.”

Miller, in his Tuesday afternoon meeting with local reporters at his weekly news conference, said: “I don’t see Kevin returning. He could surprise us, and maybe his improvement would allow him to be part of the Pac-10 tournament. But doubtful for this weekend at best.”

Parrom missed the first 10 games with a stress fracture in his left foot. He missed last week’s road trip to the Bay Area with pain in a different part of the foot.

“He doesn’t have a fracture. He just has an issue with his foot,” Miller said. “We’re cautious in dealing with him, making sure we don’t put himself in a position to hurt himself further.”

Parrom, who had moved into a starting role for the nine games before his most recent injury, is averaging 4.5 points and 4.3 rebounds. Beyond the numbers, Miller has praised the toughness he brings to the court for the Wildcats … as well as the extra size he brings on the perimeter, and better rebounding and defense.

“He’s important to our team; he really is,” Miller said. “I’m disappointed for him he can’t finish off what he started.”

Arizona freshman forward Kevin Parrom will miss this week’s games at Cal and Stanford because of a foot injury, sports information official Richard Paige confirmed in a text message.

Arizona was expected to release more information Thursday afternoon after the team’s shootaround in advance of the game against the league-leading Golden Bears on ESPN. Cal is a 12-point favorite.

(UPDATE: UA did indeed send out a press release, which had this to say about the foot injury: ” All medical tests to this point have been negative, but the UA medical staff wants to ensure a safe and pain-free return to participation.”)

Arizona says Parrom is out indefinitely.

Freshman Solomon Hill, who had been a starter before Parrom’s emergence, figures to be the new starter for coach Sean Miller. Parrom missed the first 10 games of the season with a stress fracture in his left foot, the same one in which he is experiencing pain, albeit in a different part of the foot.

Oddly, the news of Parrom’s absence from the trip first appeared on tweets from Arizona players, and Parrom later updated his Facebook status to reflect the fact he was in class.

Parrom is averaging 4.5 points and 4.3 rebounds in 21.4 minutes. He has played in 16 games, starting nine.

Now that I’ve had time to digest Arizona’s loss to Arizona State, catch up on my Olympic curling and have a couple of cups of coffee, here are five thoughts on UA basketball:

Derrick Williams was the lone UA player to speak to the media after the painful loss to Arizona State / Photo by Wildcat Sports Report

1. Don’t blame Sean Miller just because he sat at the table when the bill was due.

Players leaving early, lost recruiting classes, two years of interim head coaches, all kinds of off-court drama, four systems in four seasons … none of this is Miller’s fault.

Amid all the uncertainty, Arizona duct-taped together NCAA Tournament seasons in each of the past two years, thanks to NBA talents such as Jerryd Bayless, Jordan Hill and Chase Budinger.

Miller has a down-the-road NBA prospect in freshman Derrick Williams, who has to play out of position right now at center.

Take a look at an 18-year span of Arizona hoops, from 1987-88 to 2004-05. Amazingly, the Wildcats were no worse than a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament in all but two of those seasons.

Could Nic Wise have started for any of those teams? No.

Kyle Fogg? Definitely not.

Kevin Parrom? He’d probably be redshirting.

Jamelle Horne? He’d be a Gumby.

Derrick Williams? Yeah, he might have started for a few of those teams, but he mostly would have had to get behind a veteran in the frontcourt rotation.

Point is, let’s not kid ourselves about the talent Miller inherited.

2. Miller’s media policy needs tweaking.

Miller is definitely a “control the message” kind of coach, allowing no regular one-on-one interviews, very limited access to assistant coaches, no open locker room … with nearly everything funneled through those face-the-cameras news conferences that don’t inspire in-depth discussions.

I know, I know. This will come across as a media whine. But when only Williams, a freshman, is made available after Sunday’s loss to Arizona State, the real losers are the fans who might be interested in a range of emotions and explanations.

As it is now, pretty much everybody — from the Arizona Daily Star, to the TucsonCitizen.com Sports Network, to the local TV stations, to the websites — has the same audio and video in the same antiseptic environment.

Miller doesn’t have to open the locker room (although Lute Olson did for much of his time at Arizona, other than when he was mad at the media), but he also doesn’t have to insist on the press conference setting, either.

As was the case for years, several players could be made available on the court or in a room in McKale during weekly interview times, allowing for less-informal — and better — discussions.

In those cases, as a media member, you could work on stories or angles that didn’t have to be shared with all your competitors. And the fans received cumulative deeper coverage to help satisfy their passion.

3. I can’t hate Nic Wise.

He’s not the ultimate leader or the ultimate point guard. He’s not headed to the NBA.

In the past three seasons, he’s had to play minutes far above his skill level, and he hasn’t always made the play. But he’s certainly not afraid to take a big shot. He’s made a few of them, too.

Bottom line: The season would have been disaster without him.

4. Let’s put Arizona’s chances in the Pac-10 tournament at 14.3 percent.

I’m still bullish on UA’s ability to pull it all together and get hot in the Pac-10 tournament, where a championship would earn a ticket to the NCAAs.

Let’s break it down. USC is out because of self-imposed sanctions. Oregon isn’t good enough to compete. I don’t like Stanford’s depth or its road record.

That leaves seven teams of fairly equal ability, with the capacity to get hot or to really stink. Let’s give them equal 1-in-7 chances … or 14.3 percent.

5. It will once again be an Arizona-UCLA league.

Miller is lucky in this sense: He came into the Pac-10 not having to chase any program.

He doesn’t have to play catch-up on the court or on the recruiting trail to a UCLA program in the midst of three consecutive Final Four appearances. The Bruins have struggled right along with the Wildcats this season.

Arizona State should be more-than-solid for years to come, although the program has a lower ceiling than UCLA or Arizona. Washington hasn’t shown staying power. Cal might win its first Pac-10 title in 50 years, but will lose four seniors.

Other teams will rise and fall, but only UCLA and Arizona have dynasty potential. And they will go into next season neck-and-neck in the race to get back to the top.