Death of Alabama fan after attending NCAA tournament prompts coronavirus contact tracing

Indiana’s Marion County Public Health Department confirmed that it had contacted the Alabama Department of Public Health. “Based on a recent news story, the Marion County Public Health Department and the Indiana State Department of Health are contacting the Alabama Department of Public Health to determine if anyone in Indianapolis may have been exposed to covid-19 by any Alabama resident who visited Indianapolis in recent days,” the county said in a statement provided by the NCAA. “We are conducting an investigation following the county and state’s standard contact tracing procedures.”

Ratliff died Friday after a brief illness, his father told the Tuscaloosa News, which cited unidentified sources linking his death to the virus. An official cause of death has not been released. “He was my son and my best friend,” Bryan Ratliff told the News, “but he had an extended Alabama family that I never met and he loved them and they loved him.”

Ratliff, a native of Wadesboro, N.C., was the leader of the basketball support group on campus who often wore a plaid blazer; the Alabama athletic department’s Twitter account posted an image of him Friday with a broken heart emoji.

“They’ve taken me in,” Ratliff said of Alabama fans in an interview with the News last month. “They’re good people, and I appreciate how close they’ve let me get with the program. I feel like I owe them something. Because I feel like I don’t deserve half the things, half the recognition, half the acknowledgment, half the accolades that I get because I’m just doing what I love.”

Students and school officials held a memorial Saturday outside Coleman Coliseum, with a photo, flowers and a signed basketball that said “Fluff Forever.” Athletic Director Greg Byrne, school president Stuart Bell and members of the men’s basketball team joined Ratliff’s parents and brother at the memorial, according to AL.com.

Alabama made a run to the Sweet 16 in Indianapolis and Byrne said he saw Ratliff there, taking photos with fans.

“I thought he was such an incredible role model for all of us about finding the good in people and finding the good and exciting things in your life and taking the best advantage of it that you possibly could,” Byrne said. “I know he made a heck of an impact on me, and I know he made a heck of an impact on our student body, our university, our community. What an incredible life he led.”

Ratliff, who tweeted this week that he had attended 44 of Alabama’s past 45 conference or postseason games, was set to graduate this summer with a degree in public relations.

“Here’s a guy that’s shy, and just like the rest of us, had his challenges and ups and downs, and he tackled those things and ended up being a leader of our student body,” Byrne said. “It helped him, and it helped our university and helped our students. It just reinforces the need and desire to make sure you have a humble approach to what you do but also be willing to put yourself out there.

“The fact that he’s leading cheers, in front of thousands of students at times, it takes courage to do that. So it’s a reminder for all of us: There’s times when we’re going to have to have courage in what we do. He was such a shining example of that.”