An upstate New York high school girls basketball coach was fired after a caught-on television postgame incident where he was busted yanking a player’s hair after the team’s loss Friday night.
In a now-viral video, longtime Northville High School coach Jim Zullo, 81, approaches the team’s star player Hailey Monroe, who appears to be crying after the game, reaches out and violently pulls her ponytail, before yelling at her. Monroe then appears to try to get away from the coach, as he continues berating her as another player tries to get him to stop.
“My jaw was on the floor. They’re high school girls for crying out loud,” said Alyssa Leroux, who shared a video of the broadcast.
Monroe, a high school senior, had fouled out of the game before the shocking assault, WRGB reported. She was the all-time leading scorer.
The Northville Central School District said it was “deeply disturbed” by what happened.
“This behavior is completely unacceptable,” it said in a letter shared Friday.
“This individual will no longer be coaching for the Northville Central School District. 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.”
Zullo told News10 ABC that Monroe swore after he told her to go shake the other team’s players hands following Northville’s loss, leading to the hair grab.
