“He showed us what humility and patience and dignity truly are,” Major said. “We thought we were leading him. He was leading us and leading that school.”
The total had doubled within a day. Contributors included N.B.A. players like Marquese Chriss, Jaylen Brown and Ivan Rabb, people who had known Frayer or his circle of friends.
“I cried,” said Chriss, who donated on the day he was traded from Golden State to San Antonio. “Even though I wasn’t as close to him as some of his friends, knowing someone and seeing how fragile life is, it affects everyone.”
“Oscar, he was like a promise,” Knight said, adding: “The village really surrounded this young man to make sure that his full potential could be realized. We wrapped our arms around him and made him part of our family, and put him around a whole bunch of Black men who were successful, so he could see it. We poured into him, so he could go out there and do it and then he could pour it into somebody else.”
Knight continued: “There’s a whole bunch of Oscars out there that just really need some people to give them an opportunity and be surrounded by great people. And give them a chance and don’t let them fail. And that is what you get, this kid right here, Oscar Frayer. The Northern California community, it’s devastated. Because he was one of us. He was our dreams.”
On Monday, Grand Canyon held its commencement ceremony. Sparrow, who politely declined an interview request through an email, attended with one of Frayer’s nephews, EJ Harris, to accept the diploma that Frayer had earned.
