Transgender player calls it quits at GW
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WASHINGTON (AP)
The openly transgender member of the George Washington women's basketball team, whose groundbreaking season was cut short by a pair of concussions, says he won't play in his senior year.
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The school announced that Kye Allums ''has decided that it is in his best interest to no longer participate in intercollegiate athletics.''
''I alone came to this conclusion,'' Allums said in a statement released by the university, ''and I thank the athletic department for respecting my wishes.''
The statement offered no further details, although GW said Allums has enrolled in classes for the fall semester. Allums did not immediately respond to an email request for an interview Wednesday.
Allums made international headlines when he announced before the start of the season in November that he preferred to be known as a man. He said he was putting off hormone treatments and gender-changing surgery so that he could continue to play for the women's team.
But he suffered two concussions early in the season and played in only eight games. He told The Associated Press in March that he had suffered a total of eight concussions, that he was having memory problems and that he was unsure whether he would be cleared medically to play his senior season. He said doctors told him that if he were a football player, his playing days would certainly be over.
''I'm a fighter. I'm still trying to come back,'' he said at the time. ''I really do want to come back and play.''
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