HOUSTON — Among those killed in the California helicopter crash with retired NBA star Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gigi, was former University of Houston baseball player and assistant coach John Altobelli.
His wife Keri, and their daughter Alyssa also perished on board.
On Monday, the baseball scoreboard at the Cougar baseball field displayed Altobelli’s photo from his playing days.
Alto, as he was affectionately known, coached at Orange County College for 28 years, he remained close to the UH program.
Just before Sunday’s flight, Alto was texting with a UH coach about prospective players. Last year, he’d sent Houston Ryan Randel, who later signed with the Angels.
UH head coach Todd Whitting has known Alto for 20 plus years.
“We’ve had five of his kids here. He was a letterman at UH and assistant coach at one time,” Whitting said.
Altobelli attended UH from 1984 to 1987 and graduated with a bachelor’s degree. He played pro ball for a year.
Whitting was not surprised Altobelli and his wife were with their daughter Sunday.
“That's how close their relationship was. hey spent a lot of time together. They both dearly loved those kids and that team,” Whitting said.
Altobelli had talked about his daughter playing basketball with Gigi Bryant and that their family would fly with the Bryants to games.
“They're parents. That's their relationship. Kinda like meeting parents on my kid's teams, same as everybody else. They are parents on the same team and enjoy each other's company,” Whitting said.
University of Texas head baseball coach David Pierce tweeted he and Alto were college roommates at UH. They had seen each other’s families grow up and saw each other just last month when Altobelli won the National Coach of the Year Award.