A week after crash, Frayer celebrated at Arizona school
Grand Canyon University celebrated the life of Oscar Frayer on Tuesday, bringing together teammates, faculty and students to mourn and pay tribute to the Oakland native who died just days after playing in the NCAA Tournament.
Frayer was one of three people killed in a fiery crash on I5 near Lodi on March 23.
With the GCU basketball practice facility bathed in purple — the uniform color for the Lopes — Frayer’s No. 4 could be seen everywhere at the event: in a mural of fans wearing replicas of his jersey, on the shot clock above the basket and on the scoreboard.
According to a story posted on the school’s website, speakers at the ceremony included the school’s president, several of Frayer’s teammates and the team’s head coach, Bryce Drew.
“I just never saw a selfish bone in his body,” GCU President Brian Mueller said. “I saw the joy that came from him when he played basketball. You could tell how much he loved his teammates and you could tell how much his teammates loved him.”
Three days before his death, Frayer — a graduate of Moreau CatholicHayward — and his teammates played in the first NCAA Tournament game in their school’s history. The Lopes lost to Iowa 8674 to finish the season 177.
Frayer, his sister, Andrea Moore, 28, and Caley Bringmann, 21, of Anchorage, Alaska, were killed when their
Subaru SUV struck a California Highway Patrol vehicle that had stopped to assist a stalled tractor trailer at about 2:30 a.m.
The GCU story said Tuesday’s ceremony was recorded for Frayer’s mother, Bionca
Sparrow. Frayer had earned a degree in communications and was to receive it at an April commencement. Sparrow and Frayer’s 7yearold nephew are expected to attend the commencement ceremony and accept the degree on his behalf.
According to the school’s story, Drew spoke to Sparrow on Tuesday and said of their conversation: “She said she thanks God for the teammates and the basketball program and what it’s done for his life and GCU for how his life was totally transformed here. She said this was the first day in a week that she could feel some joy in hearing stories and some comfort in hearing how Oscar has touched so many people from the basketball world and on this campus and around the whole country.”