Jim Zullo, Northville High School girl’s basketball coach fired after pulling on girl’s hair after team loss to La Fargeville during title game. Coach claims he pulled on star team player’s hair, Hailey Monroe, for allegedly refusing to shake hands with other team.
‘My jaw was on the floor….’ An upstate New York high school girls basketball coach was fired after a caught-on television postgame incident showing him yanking a player’s hair after the team’s loss on Friday night.
In a now-viral video, longtime Northville High School coach Jim Zullo, 81, is seen approaching the team’s star player, Hailey Monroe, who appears to be crying after the team’s loss and violently pulling her ponytail, before yelling at her.
Monroe attempts get away from the coach, as he continues berating her as another player tries to intervene.
::: HIGH SCHOOL COACH FIRED :::
Coach Jim Zullo was FIRED after being caught on camera pulling the hair of a player.
The incident happened after his team lost the New York Class D state championship game.
And watch that amazing young woman stand up for her friend! pic.twitter.com/OAEsKFt6s0
— Robbie Harvey (@therobbieharvey) March 22, 2025
Bad sportmanship
The incident happened after his team lost the New York Class D state championship game. Northville lost the title game to La Fargeville 43-37.
‘My jaw was on the floor. They’re high school girls for crying out loud,’ said Alyssa Leroux, who shared video of the assault on social media.
Monroe, a high school senior, had fouled out of the game before her team losing WRGB reported. She was the all-time leading scorer.
The episode led to widespread condemnation, with the Northville Central School District announcing that it was ‘deeply disturbed’ by the incident, before announcing Zullo’s firing.
‘This behavior is completely unacceptable,’ the school district said in a letter on 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, a 2006 inductee in the state Basketball Hall of Fame, coached for more than three decades. This was his second season with Northville; the 81-year-old came out of retirement to coach the team as his wife was dealing with terminal cancer.
😕 He was way out of line & his firing is justified, but I did find this story from @NY1 & @TVJacksonWang from Feb.
It shows the human side of Jim Zullo & not just “the monster” that assaulted a girl, and that we all get to hate.
A truly unfortunate impulsive moment.#JimZullo pic.twitter.com/UhqiZV7p5g— Hey Zeus 🇲🇽🇨🇦🇺🇦 (@HeyZeus_1) March 22, 2025
Zullo won more than 500 games as a boys’ basketball coach at four schools – Little Falls, Shenendehowa, Broadalbin-Perth and Indian Lake – over nearly 40 seasons. His boys’ teams won seven Section II and 12 league championships.
Zullo has since alleged 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, according to News10 ABC. Do you suppose?
