Arizona head coach Sean Miller wanted another year of Kevin Parrom.
Considering everything Parrom went through, Miller felt he was a realistic candidate for a hardship waiver that would grant him a fifth year of eligibility.
Parrom could have been eligible for the waiver since he missed two games at the beginning of his junior season after being shot twice — in the hand and the leg — while visiting his sick mother in New York. He then missed the final 13 games of the year with a foot injury.
With a succession of tweets Wednesday night, though, Parrom made it clear he is ready to move on.
“I did not try to get a 5th year at Arizona,” Parrom tweeted. “I recently picked an agent to play professional. I know a lot of you guys wanted to know …”
“I enjoyed my time here at the U of A. I learned so many things on & off the court. I am ready for the next stage of my life.”
Parrom helped the Wildcats advance to the Sweet 16 this year before falling to Ohio State and was key in Arizona’s Elite Eight run in 2011. He averaged 8.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.2 3-pointers in 23.6 minutes per game in his final season.
“I will still be in Tucson working out & finishing strong in class so I can graduate in May for my mother & grandma,” Parrom tweeted. “I love Tucson lol.”
Byrne satisfied with direction of Pac-12 officiating
Last week, Ed Rush stepped down as the Pac-12 Coordinator of Officials.
Rush and the Pac-12 came under fire after he reportedly offered a ‘bounty’ of $5,000 or a trip to Cancun to officials during the Pac-12 Tournament provided they called a technical foul or ejected Miller. Rush claimed the comments to be “in jest,” but he’s out of a job now nonetheless.
On Wednesday the Pac-12 announced it would conduct its own investigation into the officiating during last month’s tournament in Las Vegas.
UA Athletic Director Greg Byrne spoke with the Daily Wildcat about the situation.
Byrne: “We’ve said that we’ve been very concerned about where we are with this and what led up to it. I was pleased to see that there’s gonna be an independent inquiry into the whole situation. I think that’s a good step and I think we’ve taken a couple good steps in the last week or so.
“All of our fans probably need a little reassuring right now so these are good steps.”
Arizona named fourth-most valuable basketball program
The Wall Street Journal released a list of the most valuable college basketball programs Sunday, and Arizona came in at No. 4 with a value of $224.1 million.
Ryan Brewer, an assistant professor of finance at Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus, created the list taking into account each team’s revenues, expenses, cash-flow adjustments, risk assessments and growth projections. The list is designed to represent what a team would be valued at if it could be bought and sold like a professional franchise.
Ahead of Arizona on the list was national champion Louisville, Kansas and North Carolina, respectively. Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio State, Duke, Wisconsin and Syracuse round out the top 10.
“That is a great reflection on our University,” Byrne said. “It’s a great reflection on our basketball program. Great reflection on the job our coaches are doing — coach [Sean] Miller in particular — and our fans to support in the manner they do.”
Lyons struggles in day one at pro camp
In his first day at the Portsmouth Invitational in Virginia, former Arizona point guard Mark Lyons didn’t exactly light the box score up as he tries to impress scouts with the NBA draft looming.
Lyons tallied five points on 2-of-10 shooting with two rebounds, two assists, four steals and three turnovers.
Lamont “Momo” Jones, who played point guard at the UA for two years before transferring to Iona, went against Lyons in the game and tallied eight points on 2-of-11 shooting with three assists and two turnovers.
