Baseball coach who died alongside Kobe Bryant grew up in Mount Prospect

A native of Mount Prospect - along with his wife and daughter - was among the nine people killed in the helicopter crash in Southern California Sunday that also claimed the lives of NBA great Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter.

Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli, 56, grew up in Mount Prospect and his family moved to the West Coast when he was in fifth grade. His younger brother, Tony, is the sports information director and baseball announcer at OCC.

"I speak with his dad every Sunday at 9:30 in the morning," Altobelli's cousin, Amanda Batinich, told ABC 7 Chicago.

"When he called me back Sunday at 4 p.m. that was unusual. I thought he was calling to tell me about Kobe. Then he nonchalantly added that John, his wife and daughter were with them," she told ABC 7.

"I said, 'John who?' And that is when he said, 'John my son.' And he was quite distraught obviously."

The Altobellis are survived by a son, J.J., and a daughter, Alexis.

"(The Altobellis) were very important to us," Geri Hurley, who grew up with his family, told NBC Chicago. "He was a good guy, with great roots right here in Mount Prospect."

"We have lost a member of our OCC family, and our hearts are broken," college President Angelica Suarez said in a statement. "Coach Altobelli was a giant on our campus."

The season opener for the team was Tuesday and the team elected to go on with the game. It would have been Altobelli's 28th year. He won 705 games and won four California community college state championships, including last year's. He was named the National Coach of the Year by the American Baseball Coaches Association. His brother was to announce the game.