Former East Bay star Oscar Frayer dies in auto accident
Former Moreau Catholic-Hayward basketball player Oscar Frayer died in a car crash this week in San Joaquin County, just days after playing for Grand Canyon University in the men’s NCAA Tournament.
Frayer, 23, was in a car that crashed into a California Highway Patrol vehicle early Tuesday morning on Interstate 5 northwest of Lodi. All three people in the car died: Frayer, his sister Andrea Moore and a friend, according to a Thursday release from GCU.
A CHP report said the patrol vehicle had pulled over to assist a semi truck that had broken down. The car with Frayer inside rear-ended the CHP vehicle, then hit a tree and burst into flames.
Two officers were hospitalized with injuries, but are expected to survive, according to CHP.
The 6-foot-6 forward averaged 6.6 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists while helping the Lopes win the Western Conference Athletic Tournament for the first time.
The Oakland native had returned to Northern California after finishing with eight points, five assists and three blocked shots in GCU’s loss to Iowa at the NCAA Tournament in Indianapolis.
“He was the heartbeat of our team with his vibrant, energetic personality,” GCU coach Bryce Drew said of Frayer in the school’s release. “I cannot put into words the hurt and sadness we all feel, but we know he is in heaven and that gives us great joy to know we will be together again.”
The former Moreau star had finished his degree in communications at the Phoenix university and was set to walk in GCU’s commencement ceremony next month.
Frayer was in the same 2016 high school graduating class that included Bishop O’Dowd stars Ivan Rabb and Paris Austin.
The Moreau standout was named first-team All-East Bay by this publication as a senior, averaging 17 points and eight rebounds per game for the Mission Valley Athletic League champions.
Four years earlier, upon his arrival at Moreau as a 6-5 freshman, Frayer made an immediate impact, finishing second on the team in scoring his first season.
He turned out to be the centerpiece of the Hayward private school’s emergence as a basketball power, taking a program that had just one winning season in eight years before he came through the gym doors to league championships as a junior and senior.
Moreau coach Frank Knight loves to use the hashtag “#chopthatwood” in his Tweets, and nobody has chopped that wood for the Mariners as well as Frayer in this era of sustained success for the program.
Frayer became a big brother to many at Moreau, even current players.