Hamilton Southeastern graduate, Pitt freshman CB Mason Alexander dies in car accident

Posted by author March 2, 2025 Football

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On Wednesday, Mason Alexander conducted his first interview in front of the media as a college football player. Wearing a chain with a gold “M” around his neck, Alexander spoke with smile during a six-minute interview as he discussed why he picked Pitt out of high school, his experience so far as an early enrollee in January and his close connection with the coaches.

Near the end of the interview, Alexander was asked about playing cornerback, a position where only the most confident players can thrive.

“At that corner spot … (they) say we (just) get paid to cover. I don’t believe in that,” Alexander said. “I get paid to hit, cover, lock you up, make sure you don’t have one catch on the field. I don’t care if you are the best receiver or the worst receiver.”

Alexander was a young man on the cusp of living out his dream as a four-star football prospect out of Hamilton Southeastern. But three days after his first interview as a college athlete, that dream was tragically cut short.

Alexander, 18, was killed in a car accident on Saturday night in Fishers. According to the Hamilton County Sherriff’s Office, Alexander was a passenger in a white 2016 BMW that was traveling south on Florida Road near 113^th Street in Fishers. The car entered the northbound lane and began to pass a southbound car, then pulled to the right to avoid an oncoming vehicle.

The BMW overcorrected, sliding through the grass and impacting a tree, causing the vehicle to catch on fire. The passenger, Alexander, was pronounced dead at the scene at around 9 p.m.

The case is actively being investigated by the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office crash team.

Alexander was one of the top recruits in the country as a cornerback. He was a two-time all-state selection and had offers from several top programs before picking Pitt over Purdue, Wisconsin and others. He also anchored Hamilton Southeastern’s 4×100-meter state champion relay team last spring.

“Mason is a special young man who is going to be dearly missed,” Hamilton Southeastern football coach Michael Kelly said Sunday morning. “To be honest, I don’t know if I’m still in shock but the hardest thing to think about is how things can happen to people, especially somebody like him. He had a presence and positivity about him that was unique. He didn’t think he was bigger than life in any way, and he had next level talent.”

The road to athletic stardom was not easy for Alexander, who lost his father, Johnny Alexander, on June 14, 2015, as an 8-year-old. His father, just 43, suffered a heart attack.

“It was the most heartbreaking thing,” his mother, Kelly Harris, said in 2023. “He had a really tight connection with his father. As he’s taking in that news, you could see the light in him dim.”

Alexander actually quit playing football after his father died. His father has destined him for the NFL after watching him playing his first little league game in the Lawrence Township Little League.

“Those are supposed to be your years where you’re like not worried about school and just having fun,” Mason said in 2023. “But after (my dad died), I just didn’t care about anything. That’s something an 8-, 9-, 10-year-old should not have to do. I was depressed all the time.”

Alexander picked up football again in as a seventh grader at Riverside after he was convinced by his mother and brother, Jordan, who took Mason under his wing after their father died.

“Mason was his favorite,” Jordan said his father in 2023. “(My dad) always said he saw himself in Mason. That was his guy. They were always together, so when that happened, it took a toll on Mason. I wanted to make sure I was there for him. Not too many people knew my dad better than me so I wanted to make sure Mason kept his head on straight because stuff like that can throw you off.”

It was seemingly off to the races after Alexander started playing football again. By his sophomore year, he vaulted up the list in national recruiting sites and received his first offer – from Pitt – while he was on spring break. Several other schools followed with offers, intrigued by his speed and willingness to make tackles. Alexander was selected as an all-state player as a junior and senior.

He wore the No. 15 jersey and a No. 15 on his chain to remind him of the date – June 15, 2015 – when he found out his father was gone. Alexander had a close relationship with his mother, crediting her with keeping him afloat – and her family – during those turbulent years after his father died.

“I’m mostly proud of my mom,” Mason said in 2023. “She’s so strong about everything. Any average person would have broke down and not know what to do. She put us first before anything, then she fought through it all. It was her birthday a few days ago and she just broke down, crying tears of joy. It was like she was realizing how much she had to go through in 10 years.”

Hamilton Southeastern superintendent Pat Mapes said the school would have a statement later Sunday morning.

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.