High school basketball coach speaks out after being sacked for pulling girl’s hair in ‘disturbing’ act

After footage showed him pulling on a girl’s hair, Jim Zullo was sacked from his role as a high school basketball coach.

The 81-year-old has spoken out after the ‘disturbing’ act went viral following the Northville High School’s game against LaFargeville in New York.

Senior Hailey Monroe is the basketball program’s all-time leading scorer but had been fouled out in the semi-final match. She then appeared tearful as she watched the opponents celebrate their win.

But in the clip, Zullo then walked up behind Munroe, tugging on her ponytail before yelling in her face. One of her teammates then intervened and appeared to exchange heated words with the coach.

Another girl stepped in to stand up for her teammate (NFHS Network)

As viewers online praised the girl for standing up for her teammate, the pair pointed fingers at one another as Munroe was left crying over the incident.

Zullo, who claimed the player directed an expletive towards him, was a longtime basketball coach but has now lost his job over the scandal.

He has since released a statement, apologising for the incident.

“I deeply regret my behaviour following the loss to LaFargeville Friday night in the Class D state championship game,” Zullo said, as per WNYT.

“I want to offer my sincerest apologies to Hailey and her family, our team, the good folks at Northville Central Schools and our community.

“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.”

With LaFargeville’s victory taking them to the New York State Championship, Zullo continued: “I am grateful for the opportunity to have coached girls basketball at Northville the past two years, especially last season, which was a difficult time for our family.

The scandal swiftly led to his sacking (NFHS Network)

“I am super proud of every one of these young women and what they accomplished. I know each of them will go on to do great things and I wish them well.”

Promptly firing the coach after the incident, the Northville Central School District said in a statement: “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.

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

“The district is committed to ensuring that this type of behaviour 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.

“We assure the public that this matter is being taken extremely seriously, and the district is actively addressing it. 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.”