Northville High School in upstate New York fired Hall of Fame girls' basketball coach Jim Zullo over the weekend for violently pulling the hair of a senior player on his team, which had just lost the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class D championship game for the second year in a row.
As reported by NBC News, Northville lost to La Fargeville, 43-37, Friday at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy. Northville’s Hailey Monroe, who scored 12 points for the Falcons in the loss, was standing with her teammates watching La Fargeville celebrate and appeared to be crying. Cameras then captured Zullo coming from behind and pulling Monroe’s ponytail. Zullo appeared to yell at Monroe before teammate Ahmya Tompkins, Zullo's great neice, intervened.
“The Northville Central School District is aware of, and deeply disturbed by, the conduct of the Coach of the Girls’ Varsity basketball team during the Class D New York State championship game,” the school district said on social media Saturday, as reported by NBC News. “The District is committed to ensuring that this type of behavior has no place within our programs, and we will continue to uphold the values of respect and integrity that our athletes, families and community expect and deserve. This individual will no longer be coaching for the Northville Central School District.”
In a statement obtained by NBC affiliate WNYT in Albany, Zullo apologized for his actions and said he wished he could take them back.
"I want to offer my sincerest apologies to Hailey and her family, our team, the good folks at Northville Central Schools and our community," he said. "As a coach, under no circumstance is it acceptable to put my hands on a player, and I am truly sorry."
“This is now a personnel matter,” district board of education president Carolyn Wilcox wrote in an email, according to NBC. “We are turning our attention to our young athletes to ensure their wellbeing at this very difficult time.”
Zullo is a member of the New York State Basketball Hall of Fame, having previously led Shenendehowa High School to the large school Class A state title in 1987. "He reportedly came out of retirement at the encouragement of his wife, who died last year after a years-long battle with cancer," wrote NBC's David K. Li and Angela Yang.
In his statement, Zullo expressed gratitude for having had the chance to coach the basketball team, "especially last season, which was a difficult time for our family."
This was the second consecutive season Northville, a school serving 235 sixth- through 12th-grade students, lost the state final.
