The Pittsburgh Panthers football team is mourning after an 18-year-old cornerback died in a car crash in Indiana over the weekend.
Freshman recruit Mason Alexander was killed on Saturday, March 1, in a crash in his hometown of Fishers, located northeast of Indianapolis, according to reports from USA Today, FOX 59 and WRTV.
Per the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, Alexander was a passenger in the car, a BMW, heading south on Florida Road, when the car’s driver tried to pass another vehicle from the northbound lane. The BMW veered off the road to avoid a head-on collision, crashing into a tree and then catching fire, authorities added.
Emergency personnel pronounced Alexander dead at around 9 p.m., the outlets reported.
The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately reply to PEOPLE’s request for more information.
Alexander was a graduate of Hamilton Southeastern High School in Indiana and had enrolled at the University of Pittsburg in January. ESPN included him on its list of top 300 recruits in the 2025 class, and USA Today reported that he had also received offers from several top programs, including Purdue and Wisconsin.
Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK
Many members of the college football community at Pittsburg have spoken out since the 18-year-old’s death, including the team’s head coach Pat Narduzzi. In a statement shared to social media, Narduzzi reflected on Alexander’s football career and wrote that the team was “shocked and deeply saddened” to learn about his death.
“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,” Narduzzi wrote. “Our entire program is shocked and deeply saddened to learn of Mason Alexander’s passing.”
“Mason had just enrolled at Pitt in January following his early graduation from Indiana’s Hamilton Southeastern High School. Even during that short time, he made a great impression on all of us,” the head coach continued. “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.”
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Alexander’s former high school teammate and current Butler University player Peyton Daniels also shared a heartfelt post to social media. In the X post, he shared a photo of himself and Alexander smiling in their football uniforms and wrote that it was “hard to find the words to say right now.”
“Mason lit up every room he was in. Brought joy and playfulness to everything and everyone. He could change the entire direction of your day with one interaction,” Daniels wrote. “Mason is the embodiment of exceptional. Rest Easy 15. Love forever.”
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