Less than 72 hours after playing 25 minutes in Grand Canyon’s NCAA Tournament loss to Iowa, forward Oscar Frayer tragically lost his life in a car crash near Lodi, California, at the age of 23. His sister, Andrea Moore-Frayer, was also killed in the crash last week, as was a third victim, Caley Bringmann.
“It’s been really hard,” Grand Canyon head coach Bryce Drew said in his first interview since the crash. “There is no game plan for this. There’s no prep for this.”
Miss you, O. Fly high, High Flyer. pic.twitter.com/rNd47znpsS
— GCU Men's Basketball (@GCU_MBB) March 26, 2021
In the aftermath of the tragedy, Drew has come to realize just how much of an influence Frayer, who spent five seasons at Grand Canyon, had on his teammates.
“We tried to get together with the guys every day in some capacity,” Drew told the media. “Just to talk. Just to be together. But it’s really hard. The impact he had on our players’ lives, I’m hearing stories in the last day about things he did with them that we weren’t aware of. He was really leading our team behind the scenes, and really building into some of the younger players and guys on our team.”
In the weeks leading up to his death, Frayer helped lead the Antelopes to their first Division I regular-season and conference tournament titles, and he graduated with a degree in communications, set to walk at commencement next month.
Frayer also, according to Coach Drew, rededicated his life to Christ.
Drew will always remember the joy Frayer exuded as he invited Jesus into his heart and reached significant milestones just before his untimely passing.
“For him in a two-week span to graduate, win a conference championship, play in the NCAA Tournament and re-dedicate his life to Christ, it was the happiest I had ever seen him,” Drew told the media. “I’ll always be able to see that smile and know the happiness that was in his soul the last few weeks.”
— CoachBryceDrew (@BryceDrewCoach) March 26, 2021
Frayer’s death was felt by the entire college basketball community. Baylor head coach Scott Drew, Bryce’s brother, grieved while reminding his players never to take anything for granted and to focus on the most important things in life.
“I tell you what, it puts it all into perspective,” Scott said after Baylor’s win over Villanova in the Sweet 16. “I mean O had been there for five years. He had graduated. And I mean I cried for two days, and I never coached him. And, I tell you, with our players, we talked about it. The great thing is O accepted Christ 11 days earlier so he’s hooping up in the big gym where you don’t miss any and you get no losses.”
Frayer averaged 8.0 points and 4.3 rebounds in 121 games for Grand Canyon, starting 107 of them.
The school is hosting a celebration of Frayer’s life on Tuesday night that will be livestreamed on YouTube. A memorial fund has also been set up to help Frayer’s mother, Bionca Sparrow, cover funeral costs for two of her children.
Please join us in praying for Frayer’s family, teammates, coaches and friends, as well as the entire GCU community.
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