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After Parrom’s incident, Arizona may need to have ‘the talk’

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Mike Miller

For Arizona to be a Final Four contender in the post-Derrick Williams era, it’ll need a few things:


  • Continued sharpshooting from beyond the arc. Wildcats were 10th among D-I teams last year (39.7 percent).
  • Significant contributions from freshman playmakers Nick Johnson and Josiah Turner, two guys capable of filling some of the void left by Williams and guard Momo Jones, who transferred. (And if other guys want to step up their games, that’d be good too.)
  • Avoid any off-court issues that might affect team chemistry or derail contributors health.

Guess two out of three ain’t bad.

As first reported by Adam Zagoria, junior wing Kevin Parrom was shot once in the right leg Saturday night by a man who may have been mad about a girl Parrom was hanging with. He was in stable condition Sunday night and should be fine after what could have been a nasty incident.

Arizona coach Sean Miller didn’t say much to Gary Parrish about the incident other than to hope his player gets well.

“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,” Miller said. “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.”

Parrom, who averaged 7.6 points and 3.4 rebounds a game last season, is one of the Wildcats who should be poised for a big season. He was one of their more efficient scorers last season and has the size to be a significant player on defense.

And there’s the rub. Parrom’s potentially too valuable to have bad luck befall him.

It sounds as if Parrom didn’t do anything wrong (at least as far as being a teammate is concerned) so the potential to turn into a point plankin situation is slim. But you can be certain Parrom and his teammates will get the requisite “don’t put yourself in a bad situation” lecture, especially with the start of practices barely three weeks away.

Sometimes things just happen. Sometimes it’s out of the player’s hands. And sometimes players just have to avoid any and all trouble.

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