24-year-old basketball coach dies after short battle with COVID, Georgia university says
A 24-year-old assistant basketball coach at a small Georgia university died after a “24-hour battle” with COVID-19 and pneumonia, according to his obituary.
Ryan Dupree died Sept 4. at Floyd Medical Center in Rome, according to WSB-TV. He had recently been hired as an assistant basketball coach at Shorter University in Rome.
“The Shorter University family was saddened to learn of the tragic death of Coach Ryan Dupree,” according to a statement from Shorter. “We offer our heartfelt condolences to his family and loved ones. Our prayers are with them and the basketball team in this time of loss.”
Dupree was a star basketball player at Bob Jones High School in Madison, Alabama, and his coach, Graham Aderholt, was “shocked” and “heartbroken” by the news.
“He put everyone else first. He was very consistent in his day-to-day approach,” Aderholt told WAFF. “And that’s a mature thing to do at the high school level, but that was Ryan. You could count on him every day.”
Dupree played basketball at Snead State Community College and later attended Mississippi State, before earning his MBA at Belhaven University. He was hired by Shorter in August.
“We can not wrap our earthly minds around this, but rejoicing that we have hope even in darkness,” family members wrote on a GoFundMe page. “Ryan is in heaven, and we will see him again.”
Rome, in Floyd County, has been hit hard by COVID — with nine deaths in September — as the delta variant continues to surge, the Rome News-Tribune reports. The county has a COVID positivity test rate of 28%, and health experts say 5% or lower is the target rate to slow the spread of the virus.
This story was originally published September 8, 2021 at 11:35 AM with the headline "24-year-old basketball coach dies after short battle with COVID, Georgia university says."
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