Drew devastated by Frayer’s death
Oscar Frayer finished his academics in late February to graduate and become the first male in his family to earn a college degree.
He helped Grand Canyon win its first WAC Tournament championship. He played in the NCAA Tournament for the first time. And he rededicated his life to Jesus Christ.
Then, in a flash, on Interstate 5, outside of Lodi, California, at 2:30 in the morning Tuesday, the senior basketball player’s life ended.
The 23-year-old died in a fiery crash that also claimed the life of his 28-yearold sister, Andrea Moore, and a friend, whose name was not released by the San Joaquin County Medical Examiner’s Office.
“It’s been devastating,” GCU first-year coach Bryce Drew said in an interview Friday that was provided by the university to all of the media, which has been requesting interviews with Drew since Frayer was identified as a victim in the crash by officials late Thursday afternoon.
“It’s been really hard,” Drew said. “There is no game plan for this. There’s no prep for this.
“We tried to get together with the guys every day in some capacity. 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.”
Frayer played his first three season at GCU under Dan Majerle.
He had some of his biggest moments in the biggest games. He was known for his jumping ability, how he could come out of nowhere to swat a shot and throw down alley-oop passes that would cause the rabid Havocs section go crazy.
When Drew was hired to replace Majerle last year, one of the first calls he made was to Frayer, knowing that he lost his senior season in 2019-20 because of academic reasons.
“We talked about a fresh beginning,” Drew said.
“We all wanted him back to finish his degree. There is no doubt in his mind the reason he came back was his mom. He promised his mom he was going to get his degree, be the first male in his family to accomplish that. At the end of February, he finished his last class. He has his college degree. I think that was a huge motivation for him.”
Drew said he was thankful that he got to know Frayer this year.
“He was probably the most wellknown person on campus and probably the most-liked on campus,” Drew said. “His energetic spirit to him. His smile would brighten your day and light up the whole gym when we had practices.”
Frayer’s smile will always be remembered.
“I think everyone who knows Oscar loves his smile,” Drew said. “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.
“I’ll always be able to see that smile and know the happiness that was in his soul the last few weeks.”
GCU will have a Celebration of Life on Tuesday night at GCU Arena for family and friends that will be livestreamed on YouTube.