Chester Frazier sometimes can’t help but ask one simple question: “What have I done to life?”

For a moment, the inner-city toughness he developed while growing up in an East Baltimore housing project is masked. He questions the injuries that disrupted his second year with the Illini, his father’s abrupt death to lung cancer and the mid-season car accident that left one teammate in serious condition and another, his roommate, with two felony drunk driving charges. Just as quickly, though, Frazier’s survival of the fittest attitude resurfaces.

“I think those things just make you stronger in the long run,” Frazier said.

After averaging just 13.4 minutes per game and 1.3 points per game in his freshman campaign, Frazier persevered through a strained quadriceps muscle that forced him to sit out five games in December. At the outset of the 2006-07 season, head coach Bruce Weber said there was no doubt that Frazier displayed toughness fighting through such an injury. Fast forward nine months, and Weber now describes Frazier as a “true warrior.”

Junior forward Brian Randle calls Frazier “fiery,” while senior Warren Carter says he is drawn to the point guard’s passion.

“You can see it in his eyes, you can see it in the way he plays, you can see it in everything that he does,” Carter said. “He’s a guy that feeds off his heart, feeds off his energy and emotion.”

This season, it was that same heart that allowed him to fight through sprained ankles, a pulled groin, turf toe and a dislocated finger. After Illinois’ loss to Virginia Tech in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Weber revealed that Frazier had been playing with a slightly torn MCL, known to few because of his high pain tolerance. Yet, he played in 32 of the Illini’s 35 games, starting all but seven contests.

After diving on the floor in the Purdue game on Jan. 27, he re-injured the turf toe on his left foot. He was supposed to sit out the next game against Michigan State, but instead poured in a then-career-high 17 points off the bench. Those types of heroic performances were common – including one in which he scored a career-high 21 points to lead Illinois over Penn State in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament in March.

“Toughness is what’s in your mind,” Frazier said. “It’s not playing through injuries or things like that. In my mind, everybody has a tough side.”

Eleven days removed from the Michigan State game, the elation was replaced with sorrow. During halftime of a road game against Indiana, Frazier was told that his father, Chester Frazier, Sr., had lung cancer. Just over 48 hours later, Jamar Smith and Brian Carlwell were involved in a car accident that left Carlwell in intensive care with a severe concussion. Smith, the driver, had a blood alcohol level of .176 and was later charged with aggravated DUI and leaving the scene of an accident.

Frazier returned to Baltimore to be with his family after Illinois’ win over Penn State on Feb. 24 and then again during Spring Break. And although he knew the severity of the situation, Frazier says it was a shock when he got the call on Apr. 3 saying that Frazier Sr. had passed away – less than two months after being diagnosed.

“I just talked to my dad a few days before he passed, and he seemed fine,” Frazier said. “He was always upbeat; he never complained about anything. So it was hard to (know) how bad off he was.”

Frazier said he got a call from his cousin a few days before his dad’s death, telling him that he needed to “hurry up and get home.”

“The whole thing about his passing when I went home was that they hadn’t taken his body away. I had to sit (with him) for a couple hours. So things like that just make you stronger,” he added.

While the sophomore guard admits that the experience was a “hard pill to swallow at the time,” he says he is moving on and trying to get things back in order. That means looking out for his younger brother, Joshua, who Frazier now calls his son, and preserving Frazier Sr.’s memory.

“He was a real people person, real charismatic person; everybody loved him,” Frazier said. “So what I get from him is charisma. I’m trying to humble myself by not being such a jokester nowadays, but it’s kind of hard.”

His prankster persona, though, is something his teammates say makes him unique. Frazier’s known for hiding teammates’ tennis shoes before practice, stealing their socks, sending text messages from teammates’ phones telling “the girl that they never thought about talking to” to come over, or even signing on Calvin Brock’s AOL Instant Messenger account and erasing his buddy list.

“Whenever I’m missing my phone or missing anything, ‘I’m like Chester, man,’ because he’s definitely the prankster on our team,” Carter said.

It’s Frazier’s ability to witness an action and then three months later mimic it in front of the rest of the team that keeps Weber smiling.

“He remembers everything; it doesn’t matter who it is, he has no sensitivity to (anyone),” Weber said. “He can remember things you said six months ago to a ‘T.’ It just amazes me how he has that knack.”

Not many people outside of his family at home and in basketball, though, get to see the fun-loving nature and positive energy Frazier possesses. He admits he doesn’t have a lot of friends on campus. Just a few, he claims. But if they mistake his attitude for arrogance, then they are just misunderstanding, Frazier says. Giving 100 percent in everything he does and not stopping until whatever needs to be done is accomplished is something Frazier prides himself in. Asked whom he confides in about his tumultuous season, he responds, “Nobody.”

“I just sit in my room and just think,” Frazier said. “If I talk to anybody it would probably be my music – Tupac. I listen to Tupac.”

As he looks towards next season, Randle applauds Frazier’s bright outlook and Carter thinks he will be ready for the challenge that the future will bring. Frazier, who averaged seven points per game along with four rebounds and assists per contest this season, has stepped out of the shadow he used to share with former Illini point guard Dee Brown and responded to Weber’s call to slow down and play with more calmness in his offense.

“I want him to go hard, but also play in control. I don’t want him to walk it up, but I want him to know when to go, when not to, when to dive on the floor, when not to,” Weber said.

Frazier will look to expand upon the intangibles that led him to the top of Illini’s MATO chart (for hustle points) on numerous occasions. First on his priority list, in addition to getting healthy, is working on his shot and exploding to the basket more. Frazier now watches tape of himself in order to improve his game, and says his style has drawn comparisons to Cleveland Caveliers’ guard Eric Snow. Frazier is quick to point out, though, that he has much more to offer. And Weber knows that could be the case. He has confidence Frazier could be the leader for the Illini, who are losing seniors Carter, Marcus Arnold and Rich McBride.

Carter shares the same confidence in Frazier as Weber. He has seen Frazier adapt from an “East Coast neighborhood to Champaign where it’s cornstalks” and still maintain his same demeanor. And while Carter says all of Frazier’s tattoos may be deceptive, he praises Frazier’s character and morals, especially in light of the adversity he has faced.

“He’s real with himself, and real with other people,” Carter said. “And that’s what makes him such a great dude.”