An 81-year-old high school girls’ basketball coach in New York has been accused of pulling the hair of one of his players during a heated moment on the court.
Jim Zullo was fired from his job at Northville High School after the incident occurred during the team’s loss in a Class D state championship game, Outkick reported Sunday,
The outlet said the player who was apparently targeted was senior Hailey Monroe. The young athlete, a star player who had fouled out of the game, appeared to be upset in the moments before and after the tense encounter.
Video footage shows another player standing behind Monroe and patting her back. However, seconds later Zullo approached Monroe and appeared to yank her ponytail, causing her to take a step backward.
The player who had been comforting Monroe shook her head at the coach and appeared to step between the two. She and the coach then exchanged words with both of them, pointing fingers at each other:
https://twitter.com/CollinRugg/status/1903494025329656220
Following the incident, Zullo claimed Monroe swore at him when he told her to shake hands with the other team.
Meanwhile, USA Today High School Sports detailed the coach’s long career in an article regarding the incident:
Zullo has been part of New York High School basketball for more than four decades, amassing 500-plus wins during his career. He retired in 1999 only to come back to coach in 2023, when he began at Northville High School girls’ basketball team.
A 2006 inductee in the state Basketball Hall of Fame, Zullo led the Falcons to the state championship game in the last two years.
In a statement, Northville Central School District (Northville CSD) said it was aware of and disturbed by the coach’s conduct.
“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,” the statement read.
Social media users praised the player who was standing behind Monroe when the incident happened, one person writing, “Number 24 should get recognized for standing up here. Took courage.”
“Kudos to her team mate who pulled her away and protected her,” another user commented.
