Twenty-two days ago, Kevin Parrom infused McKale Center with energy, bringing the capacity crowd to its feet.

Parrom defied all odds and returned to the court just over eight weeks after he was shot in the right leg while visiting his ill mother in New York.

The 6-foot-6 forward played 18 minutes, scored six points, drilled a clutch 3-pointer, grabbed four rebounds and dished out two assists in his emotional homecoming.

Since that memorable moment, however, Parrom has had to deal with playing hurt and is taking baby steps toward what could be a long recovery.

“Once the adrenaline and the emotion of him returning left him, he’s hit with reality, and that is that he was shot and at one point he had no feeling,” said head basketball coach Sean Miller.

The swingman is playing at about 85 percent, according to Miller, and his production is down. Since his first game back, Parrom has scored only 16 points over the last five games.

During that stretch he’s shot in only 5-for-22 from the field in 15.6 minutes. Parrom went 1-for-4 in 13 minutes against NAU on Saturday, and the frustration is starting to mount.

“He’s frustrating himself because he can’t do things that he could normally do,” forward Solomon Hill said of Parrom. “I think just mentally he has to buy into the fact that it’s not going to all come back to him right away.”

“Coming into this year, he was going to be a huge part of what we do,” Hill added. “Being able to play the 3, being a bigger lineup, it’s hurting us a little but just because we can’t have the strong punch that he gives us.”