Coach seen pulling basketball player’s ponytail after loss pleads guilty in NY
A New York high school basketball coach seen pulling a player’s ponytail after his team lost the state championship in March has pleaded guilty in connection with the incident that went viral online, according to reports.
Jim Zullo was arrested on a charge of second-degree harassment on March 24, court records show.
Zullo, 81, the now-former Northville High School girls basketball coach, pleaded guilty to the offense July 29, the Times Union newspaper reported.
NFHS Network captured the moment Zullo grabbed and pulled senior player Haley Monroe’s hair following the championship game against La Fargeville Central School at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy on March 21, according to the newspaper. Troy is located in Rensselaer County, about a 5-mile drive northeast from Albany.
The force caused the student’s head to swing back, the footage shows, according to a clip published by NEWS10. The video captured another player stepping in between Zullo and her teammate. She appears to exchange words with Zullo while shaking her head.
In a statement to McClatchy News on July 29, Zullo’s defense attorney Robert Abdella said “Coach Zullo would like to once again apologize to Haley Monroe,” adding that “regardless of the circumstances, pulling her pony tail was wrong.”
“He regrets having done it and wishes he could take it back,” Abdella said. “Obviously, that’s not possible. Coach Zullo would also like to apologize to his team in that the event distracted from what should have been a celebration of the tremendous accomplishment of reaching back to back title games.”
By pleading guilty, Zullo agreed to the discharge of his case on certain conditions, NEWS10 reported. He is prohibited from having contact with Monroe for a year and was also ordered to pay a $120 fine.
The filmed incident resulted in Zullo losing his job at Northville High School in Fulton County, New York, Spectrum News 1 reported. Before his firing, he was the girls basketball coach for two seasons, following a prior retirement, according to the outlet.
Zullo previously told NEWS10 that he pulled Monroe’s hair in reaction to her using an expletive, which he said was directed at him.
Abdella said Zullo made a mistake and expressed in his statement that the incident does not reflect the overall impact he has had during his decadeslong coaching career.
“As you watch the inevitable replay of the viral video, and perhaps you don’t know Coach Zullo – never played for him or never had the chance to meet him or sit and talk with him – understand that this video and that split second action is in no way, shape or form representative of who Jim Zullo is as a man or a coach,” Abdella said.
“His career will be defined by great success on the court, and the respect and admiration of the people and players who know him or played for him,” he added.
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