Arizona wing Kevin Parrom won’t be ready to return to the court by the time Arizona visits Madison Square Garden next week in the 2K Sports Classic, but he could be back on the court by early December.
The Arizona Daily Star reported that Parrom — who was shot in the right leg Sept. 24 in New York after an assailant broke into his home — has been cleared for basketball activities without contact for up to 60 minutes and will begin playing 5-on-5 next week.
“He’s made a lot of progress,” Arizona coach Sean Miller told the paper. “We talked about December. I think there’s a chance optimistically that it could be before that. We’re starting to count on him joining us in early December then it all comes back to, what role will he have, how successful will he be when he plays in the game.”
Parrom should help a young Arizona team that has a stellar freshmen class and has also lined up the No. 1 recruiting class for 2012.
“When you look at our struggles off the bat, I look at Kevin as a really big part of what we’re doing,” Miller said. “Having him return to 100 percent will really be a significant boost to our performance.
“Why is that? He can really shoot the ball. He’s one player on our team who we know from his past can score 20 points a game,” Miller added. “He’s one of our most physical players. He rebounds, defensively he’s experienced. All those things are things we really need right now.”
Arizona comes to New York Nov. 17 to face St. John’s in the semifinals of the 2K Sports Classic. Texas A&M and Mississippi State are the other semifinalists.
