High school basketball coach apologizes for yanking player’s hair as he gets fired for ‘unacceptable’ act

TROY, NEW YORK: A New York high school basketball coach has lost his job after he reportedly aggressively pulled a player's hair during a state championship game.

Coach Jim Zullo was terminated from his position on Friday, March 21, after he was caught on camera yanking the player's hair after Northville High School lost the game 43-37 against La Fargeville.

The incident happened at the end of the match, which was held at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, New York, as reported by The Sun.

Coach Jim Zullo pulls Hailey Monroe’s ponytail

Northville’s Hailey Monroe Hailey Monroe was upset after losing the game to the LaFargeville girls basketball team. She appeared to be crying.

However, what made her experience worse was the 81-year-old coach’s violent behavior toward her. Cameras captured coach Jim Zullo coming from behind and pulling Monroe’s hair. 

One of Monroe's teammates, Ahmya Tompkins, immediately intervened but he got into a heated argument with her.

Jim Zullo's action sparks outrage

The footage of the moment soon went viral with people calling out coach Jim Zullo.

An X user tweeted, “What? This is unacceptable. I hope her parents file charges against him, smdh.”

The second user wrote, “You are absolutely out of your mind for pulling her hair, you should be put in jail immediately.”

“If he did that in public, what have we not seen him do? Scary. Parents…. Attend games and pop in on practices from time to time,” a person shared.

Another person wrote, “Needs to be Charged with assault and battery.”

A tweet read, “Give her teammate credit for stepping in and standing up to him.”

Another tweet said, “Notice that when another player tries to protect the player Zullo attacked, he then went after her, screamed at her, too. Wonder what these players endured that we don't know about.”

Northville Central School District says Jim Zullo ‘will no longer be coaching’

Following the outrage, Northville Central School District shared that it “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.”

“We hold our coaches to the highest standards of professionalism, sportsmanship, and respect for our student-athletes, and this behavior is completely unacceptable,” it mentioned.

The statement also noted that Zullo “will no longer be coaching for the Northville Central School District,” before adding, “The district will be following up with the affected players and their families to provide support and outline the actions we are taking in response to this incident.”

Jim Zullo says he ‘regrets’ his behavior

Meanwhile, Jim Zullo also issued an apology statement after being fired, which stated, “I deeply regret my behavior following the loss to LaFargeville Friday night in the Class D state championship game.”

“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 shared.

“As a coach, under no circumstance is it acceptable to put my hands on a player, and I am truly sorry. I wish I could have those moments back,” the veteran of high school basketball coaching added.

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