Mason Alexander, a freshman on the Pittsburgh football team, was killed late Saturday night in a car accident in his Indiana hometown, the program announced.
“I received a call this morning that no parent, teacher or coach ever wants to get — the news of the sudden loss of a young and promising life,” Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said Sunday in a statement. “Our entire program is shocked and deeply saddened to learn of Mason Alexander’s passing.”
Alexander was a passenger in a 2016 BMW that tried to pass a 2015 Toyota before a hillcrest and swerved to avoid a head-on collision with another car traveling in the opposite direction in Fishers, Ind., the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release.
The BMW veered off the road, slid through grass, hit a tree and caught fire at around 9 p.m.
Alexander, 18, graduated early from high school and enrolled at Pittsburgh in December, with an eye on joining spring practice later this month.
He was a four-star recruit — the highest in Pitt’s incoming freshman class.
“Even during that short time, he made a great impression on all of us,” Narduzzi said. “Mason was proud and excited to be a Panther, and we felt the same way about having him in our Pitt family. He will always be a Panther to us. The Alexander family and Mason’s many loved ones and friends will be in our prayers.”
Pitt was the first school to offer a FBS scholarship to Alexander, who was described as a “very contagious and high energy, a guy that always stays positive,” by defensive backs coach Archie Collins when he signed his letter of intent, per The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.