College basketball participant slammed for aiming gun celebration at rival who survived getting shot
A college basketball player has come under fire after appearing to perform a ‘gun’ celebration towards a rival star who was previously shot in the leg.
On Friday night, the Nebraska Cornhuskers secured a dramatic 58-56 win in their game against Michigan State – despite a late comeback attempt from the Spartans.
The game, however, was marred by an incident late on when Huskers star Braden Frager hit a three-point shot and performed the questionable celebration.
Frager appeared to do a ‘gun’ celebration towards Spartans defender Jeremy Fears Jr, who was shot in the leg and was left needing surgery back in 2023.
Frager was handed a technical foul for the action and his head coach, Fred Hoiberg, later condemned the player – but that didn’t stop him from posting a picture of the celebration onto his Instagram account after the game.
The Huskers forward captioned it: ‘Fear none’. The post has since been deleted.
Nebraska forward Frager has come under criticism over a celebration performed on Saturday
Frager his a three-point shot over Michigan State’s Jeremy Fears Jr and then appeared to perform a gun celebration towards the rival player
Shortly after his post, social media erupted in fury as fans labelled him as ‘classless’ for performing the celebration and then later posting it on social media.
One fan said: ‘Shooting an imaginary gun at Jeremy Fears is nasty man. Be better.’
‘Braden Frager is a piece of s*** for this,’ another disgruntled fan said.
‘Posting a celebration of pointing a fake gun at someone who was actually shot 2 years ago is as dumb and classless as it gets,’ another fan wrote.
Some fans, however, claimed that it was not a ‘gun’ celebration due to the fact that Frager used three fingers – suggesting it was referring to the three-point shot.
Despite this, Frager was still condemned by head coach Fred Hoiberg afterwards.
Speaking to media after the game, Hoiberg said: ‘It is a teachable moment. He will be better because of it.
‘He knew he messed up, but he kept his composure, his teammates rallied around him, & he made some big plays down the stretch.’
Fans rushed to social media to lament the ‘classless’ act from the Nebraska forward
Spartans star Jeremy Fears Jr was previously shot in the leg in his hometown of Joliet, Illinois
Meanwhile, according to Robin Washut, a reporter for Husker Online, Frager ‘reached out to Fears directly to express remorse and talk it out’.
Back in December 2023, Fears suffered nonlife-threatening injuries after being shot near his hometown of Joliet, Illinois.
Fears, who was just 18-years-old at the time, would later return for Michigan State’s 2024 season opener on November 4.
Fears’ younger brother Jeremiah Fears is a guard for the New Orleans Pelicans.
