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A viral video of Northville girls’ basketball head coach, Jim Zullo, pulling at the hair of a player on his team has enraged netizens. The incident occurred after Northville’s loss to LaFagerville on Friday. Different reactions have followed a video of the incident, especially on the social media platform Threads.
Threads user Phyllis Mehl Herding, described Zullo’s action as an abuse, calling for the coach to be fired. She wrote,
“That’s abuse! He needs to be fired!”
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Another netizen, Ann B., wanted more information about the incident, writing,
“Who the bleep is that bleep? Can we get more information?”
Meanwhile, another Threads user, Carmelita Cavaness, wanted to know how the player’s parents reacted. She wrote,
“Where are her parents? Baby the way I would have been out of the stands.”
In the opinion of Victoria Hibbert, who also commented on the video, it couldn’t have been the coach’s first time committing similar acts. She opined,
“He was way too comfortable doing that!! He’s done it before and gotten away with it, it’s obvious.”
Another netizen, Charlotte Ellis, reiterated the golden rule of avoiding violence, writing,
“Keep your hands off other people.”
The teammate who stepped in to defend the girl was appreciated by a Threads user, Leslie Bosua. He wrote,
“Thank you to the teammate who stepped in.”
Northville Central School District has since fired the Northville girls’ basketball head coach, Jim Zullo. In a statement released on Friday evening, the district stated,
“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 Northville Central School District.”
Jim Zullo’s coaching career and record as Northville girls’ basketball head coach
The 81-year-old Zullo came out of retirement two years ago to become Northville girls’ basketball head coach. The state basketball Hall of Fame inductee has more than three decades of coaching experience. Throughout about 40 seasons, he coached boys’ basketball at four schools: Little Falls, Shenendehowa, Broadalbin-Perth, and Indian Lake.
He led his boys’ teams to more than 500 wins, winning seven Section II and 12 league championships in the process. Since becoming Northville girls’ basketball head coach, he led the team to two straight state championship games. However, the team fell short of victory on both occasions. The team lost to Hammond in 2024 before its loss to LaFagerville on Friday.
