New York Basketball Hall of Fame coach Jim Zullo fired after pulling player's hair

A longtime girls' prep basketball coach in Upstate New York has been fired after a video of him pulling the hair of one of the players on the team went viral.

Northville High School coach Jim Zullo, 81, pulled the ponytail of an emotional player as the team was about to lose the Class D New York state title game.

ICYMI: Northville basketball coach Jim Zullo is fired after pulling the hair of one of the players, after the team lost the Class D finals Friday night. Courtesy: NHFShttps://t.co/u61zRKc2f0 pic.twitter.com/DUHRpV4WZu
— CBS 6 Albany - WRGB (@CBS6Albany) March 22, 2025

The school district posted a statement on Zullo's behavior.

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 behavior is completely unacceptable.
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.
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.

The coach told News10 that the player spewed an expletive toward him when he told her to shake opponents' hands after the game.

Zullo has been part of New York High School basketball for more than four decades, amassing 500-plus wins during his career. He retired in 1999 only to come back to coach in 2023, when he began at Northville High School girls' basketball team.

A 2006 inductee in the state Basketball Hall of Fame, Zullo led the Falcons to the state championship game in the last two years.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY High School Sports Wire: Jim Zullo fired after pulling hair of Northville player

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