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Coro: Frayer makes most of 2nd chance
12/11/2020 8:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
Senior overcame father's death as boy, ineligibility as Lopes player
Oscar Frayer still had lessons to learn, hugs to hold and memories to make with his father when he lost him to a fatal car accident at age 7.
In search of healing, Frayer's mother moved her son and his two older sisters from Oakland, California, to nearby Hayward, where basketball found Frayer.
"I recall the day like no other," said his mother, Bionca Sparrow. "I'm cooking dinner and he said, 'Mom, I need $75. I need you to fill out this application for basketball and I need my birth certificate right now.' "
"Later," she said.
"Mom, I have to have it," her 9-year-old boy pleaded.
It was true then and now. Basketball became Frayer's outlet for that paternal chasm in his life. He thrived off the success and catapulted his eye-popping athleticism into a scholarship to play and study at Grand Canyon, where he started three consecutive seasons until last year.
Frayer, the son of a junior college counseling assistant, was academically ineligible for the fall ... and then the spring.
He had to have it.
"I thought basketball was over with," Frayer said. "I'd never been in a situation where I sacrificed basketball. I know the decisions I was making last year were sacrificing basketball. It gave me a different outlook on life."
Frayer's future – academic and athletic – were in peril until he improved his grades, retracked his graduation for April in Communications and received a second chance from new GCU head coach Bryce Drew.
Once Frayer's charismatic smile and high hops returned, so did his starting job for a fourth year.
"It means everything to me," said Frayer, who is on pace to play more games than any Lope in 72 years. "In life, you don't get too many second chances, especially when it comes to a great place with great people. It's a blessing to even be here."
Boyhood shook by dad's death
Sparrow knew she had a handful during pregnancy, when Frayer foreshadowed his forte by jumping around the womb. He moved at a fast-forward tempo through childhood. He crawled at 7 months, walked at 9 months, ran at 1 year and biked without training wheels at 2 years.
"When I'm not here, you're the man of the house so take care of your mom and sisters," Oscar III would tell Oscar IV, who wears No. 4 for GCU.
Frayer took the role seriously as a boy, long before he needed to do so as a young man. The family celebrated his seventh birthday six weeks before tragedy struck on Feb. 26, 2005.
The Frayers planned to move from their home in Oakland to a second home in Sacramento, but they wanted to let Oscar and his then-teenage sisters, Andrea and Irie, finish the school year. Until then, the doting dad, youth counselor and janitorial business owner made weekend trips to Sacramento.
Unknowingly suffering from sleep apnea, his father fell asleep at 10:40 a.m. while driving east on I-80. His vehicle crossed four lanes of traffic before the impact of a rest area sign ejected and killed him instantly.
Days later, Frayer stood by his father's casket and shook hundreds of guests' hands at the service.
"He was being the little man that his dad tried to instill in him," Sparrow said.
Hoops offered haven
Basketball came along as an outlet, but it also highlighted the absence of Frayer's father. His family was incredibly supportive, but he noticed his friends' fathers at games more as he matured.
"I needed to fill a void in my life," Frayer said. "I needed to get into something positive consistently. I just knew I could get on the court and everything else would go away."
He began in Hayward Catholic Youth Organization leagues, where prayer preceded games just as it does at GCU. Coaches encouraged his raw talent, which became dazzling as he grew into rim-rattling dunks at Oakland and Hayward parks.
Frayer forged that into an opportunity to play at study at GCU, where he became a WAC All-Defensive Team honoree, an improved shooter and a widely popular court and campus figure.
Season lost to grades
That popularity worked against him, as he drew different crowds. Frayer admits to welcoming the wrong elements that sent him on a path to academically ineligibility for 2019-20.
"There were a lot of habits I had to give up and change," Frayer said. "I had to do a whole 360 on life. I made the change needed and everything has taken off for me."
That did not require Drew to accept Frayer into a changing program culture, but he unequivocally did.
"Coach Drew called me from Day 1 and was big on me coming back and that it would be with open arms," Frayer said. "That was enough for me because this is home. I spent the last four years of my life here.
"Coach Drew is my guy. A lot of these coaches are my guys. I see myself having relationships with them years down the line. That's key for me. Having those father figures in my life that I didn't have growing up is huge."
After a year away from games, practices, weights and sprints, Frayer faced a challenge to regain his form and feel before he could worry about a starting job. Frayer added 20 pounds to his lean frame and lifted a heavy burden from his shoulders as he reacclimated.
Frayer is a role model to his five nephews and was the first male on his mother's side to graduate from high school. He will be the maternal side's first male college graduate in four months.
"Oscar's a great young man," Drew said. "His personality just lights up a gym. He brings excitement to the game with the way he plays. He's an easy guy to get behind and cheer for."
Season, smile restored
Frayer mostly persevered because of his mother, who emphasized the end result would matter the most. Through her disappointment, she exuded encouragement to him.
When he was announced as a starter for the Nov. 23 season opener, she cried.
"I was very humbled to experience that," Sparrow said. "I was very happy because he realized that, even though you may have gone down a wrong path, you're highly favored by God. He loves you so much that he gave you a second opportunity."
That Frayer smile is lighting up GCU Arena again, but he also is glowing from the inside this time.
This is his season to shine.
"You grow from a boy to a man in these situations," Frayer said. "I just knew I had a will to want to do it."
Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.
In search of healing, Frayer's mother moved her son and his two older sisters from Oakland, California, to nearby Hayward, where basketball found Frayer.
"I recall the day like no other," said his mother, Bionca Sparrow. "I'm cooking dinner and he said, 'Mom, I need $75. I need you to fill out this application for basketball and I need my birth certificate right now.' "
"Later," she said.
"Mom, I have to have it," her 9-year-old boy pleaded.
It was true then and now. Basketball became Frayer's outlet for that paternal chasm in his life. He thrived off the success and catapulted his eye-popping athleticism into a scholarship to play and study at Grand Canyon, where he started three consecutive seasons until last year.
Frayer, the son of a junior college counseling assistant, was academically ineligible for the fall ... and then the spring.He had to have it.
"I thought basketball was over with," Frayer said. "I'd never been in a situation where I sacrificed basketball. I know the decisions I was making last year were sacrificing basketball. It gave me a different outlook on life."
Frayer's future – academic and athletic – were in peril until he improved his grades, retracked his graduation for April in Communications and received a second chance from new GCU head coach Bryce Drew.
Once Frayer's charismatic smile and high hops returned, so did his starting job for a fourth year.
"It means everything to me," said Frayer, who is on pace to play more games than any Lope in 72 years. "In life, you don't get too many second chances, especially when it comes to a great place with great people. It's a blessing to even be here."
Boyhood shook by dad's death
Sparrow knew she had a handful during pregnancy, when Frayer foreshadowed his forte by jumping around the womb. He moved at a fast-forward tempo through childhood. He crawled at 7 months, walked at 9 months, ran at 1 year and biked without training wheels at 2 years.
"When I'm not here, you're the man of the house so take care of your mom and sisters," Oscar III would tell Oscar IV, who wears No. 4 for GCU.Frayer took the role seriously as a boy, long before he needed to do so as a young man. The family celebrated his seventh birthday six weeks before tragedy struck on Feb. 26, 2005.
The Frayers planned to move from their home in Oakland to a second home in Sacramento, but they wanted to let Oscar and his then-teenage sisters, Andrea and Irie, finish the school year. Until then, the doting dad, youth counselor and janitorial business owner made weekend trips to Sacramento.
Unknowingly suffering from sleep apnea, his father fell asleep at 10:40 a.m. while driving east on I-80. His vehicle crossed four lanes of traffic before the impact of a rest area sign ejected and killed him instantly.
Days later, Frayer stood by his father's casket and shook hundreds of guests' hands at the service.
"He was being the little man that his dad tried to instill in him," Sparrow said.
Hoops offered haven
Basketball came along as an outlet, but it also highlighted the absence of Frayer's father. His family was incredibly supportive, but he noticed his friends' fathers at games more as he matured.
"I needed to fill a void in my life," Frayer said. "I needed to get into something positive consistently. I just knew I could get on the court and everything else would go away."He began in Hayward Catholic Youth Organization leagues, where prayer preceded games just as it does at GCU. Coaches encouraged his raw talent, which became dazzling as he grew into rim-rattling dunks at Oakland and Hayward parks.
Frayer forged that into an opportunity to play at study at GCU, where he became a WAC All-Defensive Team honoree, an improved shooter and a widely popular court and campus figure.
Season lost to grades
That popularity worked against him, as he drew different crowds. Frayer admits to welcoming the wrong elements that sent him on a path to academically ineligibility for 2019-20.
"There were a lot of habits I had to give up and change," Frayer said. "I had to do a whole 360 on life. I made the change needed and everything has taken off for me."
That did not require Drew to accept Frayer into a changing program culture, but he unequivocally did.
"Coach Drew called me from Day 1 and was big on me coming back and that it would be with open arms," Frayer said. "That was enough for me because this is home. I spent the last four years of my life here.
"Coach Drew is my guy. A lot of these coaches are my guys. I see myself having relationships with them years down the line. That's key for me. Having those father figures in my life that I didn't have growing up is huge."
After a year away from games, practices, weights and sprints, Frayer faced a challenge to regain his form and feel before he could worry about a starting job. Frayer added 20 pounds to his lean frame and lifted a heavy burden from his shoulders as he reacclimated.
Frayer is a role model to his five nephews and was the first male on his mother's side to graduate from high school. He will be the maternal side's first male college graduate in four months."Oscar's a great young man," Drew said. "His personality just lights up a gym. He brings excitement to the game with the way he plays. He's an easy guy to get behind and cheer for."
Season, smile restored
Frayer mostly persevered because of his mother, who emphasized the end result would matter the most. Through her disappointment, she exuded encouragement to him.
When he was announced as a starter for the Nov. 23 season opener, she cried.
"I was very humbled to experience that," Sparrow said. "I was very happy because he realized that, even though you may have gone down a wrong path, you're highly favored by God. He loves you so much that he gave you a second opportunity."
That Frayer smile is lighting up GCU Arena again, but he also is glowing from the inside this time.
This is his season to shine.
"You grow from a boy to a man in these situations," Frayer said. "I just knew I had a will to want to do it."
Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's BasketballMakaih Williams | Media Availability | 9.3.25
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Dusty Stromer | Media Availability | 9.3.25
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Kaleb Smith | Media Availability | 9.3.25
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Non-Conference Schedule Release | Men's Basketball
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