Northville High School fired coach Jim Zullo after a clash following a loss in the state final.
A Hall of Fame girls basketball coach in upstate New York apologized Sunday after being fired over the weekend for violently yanking the ponytail of his star player and appearing to berate her following an emotional loss.
The incident unfolded after Northville High School lost to La Fargeville, 43-37, in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class D finals at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy.
Northville’s Hailey Monroe, the Falcons’ star senior who scored 12 points in the loss, was standing with her teammates after the game and appeared to be crying.
Cameras then captured Falcons coach Jim Zullo coming from behind and pulling Monroe’s hair. Zullo appeared to yell at Monroe before teammate Ahmya Tompkins intervened.
Tompkins is the coach’s great-niece, The Daily Gazette of Schenectady and other local news outlets have reported.
“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.
“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 of 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.”
Members of the district’s board of education declined to comment beyond the social media statement.
“This is now a personnel matter,” board President Carolyn Wilcox wrote in an email. “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 yearslong battle with cancer.
“She was my dad’s biggest supporter and biggest fan,” his son Sam Zullo, who also coached a girls basketball team in Connecticut, told The Associated Press. “She was my biggest supporter and biggest fan.”
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.”
He said he was proud of the girls and wished them well.
This was the second consecutive season Northville, a small school with about 235 sixth- through 12-grade students, fell just short in the state final, last year being edged out by Hammond in the title game.
