The death of Kevin Parrom's mother is a reminder that it's all just a game

For a guy who's been through so much without making much of a fuss about it, the death of Kevin Parrom's mother, Lisa Williams, comes as another difficult life lesson in such a short period of time for the Arizona Wildcats' 20-year-old junior forward.

His mom passed away after a two-year battle with cancer, and the news follows the death of his grandmother this summer and Parrom's ordeal on Sept. 24, when he was shot twice -- once in the hand and once in the right leg -- in the Bronx while visiting his mother.

At media day, Parrom appeared as happy as anyone could in his situation.

His tweet Sunday night shows that he's holding strong following more heartbreaking news.

"I Love You Momma! You Dont Have To Deal With No More Pain And Now You Can Watch Ya Baby Boy Make You Proud From Up Above. Love You Ma ! RIP."

Parrom's coach, Sean Miller, believes that Parrom will be OK with the Tucson community behind him, and he added in a statement that the forward will attend next Saturday's Red-Blue game.

It'll be a chance for everyone to show Parrom some love. That's a bigger deal than it may seem.

Now, we'll see that his own health and his potential return to the basketball court isn't anything to worry about. We'll see that Kevin's support system has nothing to do with his athletic scholarship, too. In a day in age where college athletics is all about money, it's just a reminder that these kids fans pay money to see aren't just doing it all for the fame or for the money.

Not in Parrom's case, anyway.

No, in this situation involving a player who's had nothing but bad breaks, we can see that Kevin Parrom truly appreciates that basketball has given him a support system to get through these difficult situations. We can all take notes from him, just 20 years old, dealing with a string of painful misfortunes that are out of his control.

Saturday, the Wildcats will hold their Red-Blue scrimmage for the fans, and already more than 8,000 tickets have been sold. But it now holds a much, much larger importance -- to show a young man he's more important than a roster member on a Division I basketball team.