#Death of Alabama superfan prompts COVID-19 tracing in Indiana

The COVID-19 death of a young University of Alabama superfan has sparked a contact-tracing investigation by Indiana health officials, according to reports.

Luke Ratcliff, 23, died Friday of complications related to the coronavirus, Tuscaloosa News reported.

A megafan of the school’s basketball team, Ratcliff was known for his checkered blazer and nickname, “Fluffopotamus,” or “Fluff” for short.

Ratcliff had returned from a road game in Indianapolis the night before he was hospitalized.

“Doesn’t seem real,” University of Alabama head basketball coach Nate Oats wrote on Twitter. “Fluff has been our biggest supporter since day one.”

Now the local officials in Indiana are reaching out to their Alabama counterparts to “determine if anyone in Indianapolis may have been exposed to COVID-19 by any Alabama resident who visited Indianapolis in recent days, they said in a statement.

It’s unclear when Ratcliff contracted the virus.