The details about who else was involved in this morning’s devastating helicopter crash that left nine people, including Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, dead were slow to come. Identifications had to be secured. Families needed to be notified above all else.
It’s since been reported that longtime college baseball coach John Altobelli, 56, his wife Keri Altobelli and their daughter Alyssa were among the casualties. Alyssa, 13, played basketball on a club team with Bryant’s daughter, Gianna, who also died in the crash. They had been on their way to Bryant’s Mamba Academy in Thousand Oaks, Calif, for a game.
Altobelli’s brother, Tony, confirmed their names to CNN.
“This is so so sad,” Katie Couric paid tribute to the family on Instagram Sunday. “Orange County baseball coach John Altobelli, his daughter Alyssa and wife Keri also died in the helicopter crash along with Kobe and Gianna Bryant. My heart goes out to the Altobelli family.”
“We have lost a member of our OCC family, and our hearts are broken. Coach Altobelli was a giant on our campus—a beloved teacher, coach, colleague and friend. This is a tremendous loss for our campus community,” Orange Coast College President Angelica Suarez said in a statement.
Altobelli had been a mentor and coach for 27 years, and had led the OCC Pirates to four state titles. He had just been honored in 2019 by the American Baseball Coaches Association as an ABCA/Diamond National Coach of the Year.
Couric also posted a number of photos and videos of Bryant, including a clip from the Oscar-winning animated short about his life, Dear Basketball, which she called “profoundly moving.”
“So so sad. Legendary basketball star Kobe Bryant has tragically died at the age of 41 in a helicopter crash,” she wrote. “His 13 year old daughter Gianna was killed as well, along with seven other people. They were all heading to Mamba Academy for the Mamba Cup Tournament Series, a series of tournaments for boys and girls basketball teams from the third through eighth grades. #RIP #kobebryant.”
“It was something John routinely did, flying up with Kobe to attend games with his daughter,” OCC assistant coach Ron La Ruffa told CNN.
“John meant so much to not only Orange Coast College, but to baseball,” OCC athletic director Jason Kehler said in a statement, per ESPN. “He truly personified what it means to be a baseball coach. The passion that he put into the game, but more importantly his athletes, was second to none—he treated them like family. Our deepest condolences go out to the Altobelli family during this time of tragedy.”