A Corridor of Fame ladies basketball coach in upstate New York apologized Sunday after being fired for violently yanking the ponytail of his star player and showing to berate her following an emotional loss.
The incident unfolded after Northville Excessive College misplaced to La Fargeville, 43-37, within the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class D ultimate Friday night time at Hudson Valley Neighborhood School in Troy.
Northville’s Hailey Monroe, the Falcons’ star senior who scored 12 factors within the loss, was standing along with her teammates after the sport and seemed to be crying.
Cameras then captured Falcons coach Jim Zullo coming from behind and pulling Monroe’s hair.
Zullo appeared to yell at Monroe earlier than 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 College District is conscious of, and deeply disturbed by, the conduct of the Coach of the Ladies’ Varsity basketball workforce throughout the Class D New York State championship recreation,” the school district said on social media Saturday.
“The District is dedicated to making sure that such a conduct has no place inside our packages, and we are going to proceed to uphold the values of respect and integrity that our athletes, households and group anticipate and deserve. This particular person will now not be teaching for the Northville Central College District.”
In an announcement obtained by NBC affiliate WNYT of Albany, Zullo apologized for his actions and mentioned he wished he may take them again.
“I need to supply my sincerest apologies to Hailey and her household, our workforce, the great people at Northville Central Colleges and our group,” he mentioned. “As a coach, beneath no circumstance is it acceptable to place my fingers on a participant, and I’m really sorry.”
Members of the district’s board of schooling declined to remark past the social media assertion.
“That is now a personnel matter,” board President Carolyn Wilcox wrote in an e-mail. “We’re turning our consideration to our younger athletes to make sure their wellbeing at this very tough time.”
Zullo is a member of the New York State Basketball Hall of Fame, having beforehand led Shenendehowa Excessive College to the massive faculty Class A state title in 1987.
His son, Sam Zullo, is the ladies basketball coach at Simsbury Excessive College in Connecticut.
Sam Zullo led the Trojans to the Class L title final season, in a bittersweet second as his mom and Jim Zullo’s spouse, had died months earlier from cancer.
Jim Zullo had come out of retirement to educate at Northville on the urging of his spouse so he may keep occupied, the household has beforehand mentioned.
“Right now, I’m not snug individually commenting on something,” Sam Zullo mentioned in an announcement to NBC Information on Monday. “I want to assist my father and our households work via this.”
In his assertion on the incident Friday night time, the elder Zullo expressed gratitude for having had the prospect to educate the basketball workforce, “particularly final season, which was a tough time for our household.”
He mentioned he was happy with the ladies and wished them nicely.
This was the second consecutive season Northville, a small school with about 235 sixth- via 12-grade college students, fell simply quick within the state ultimate, final yr being edged out by Hammond in the title game.
Northville HS is a lower than 60 miles north of the state Capitol in Albany and about 150 miles south of the U.S.-Canadian border.
