Female Basketball Player Leaves USF, Returns to Christianity

TAMPA, FL (AP) -- A 22-year-old woman who created an uproar when she wanted to wear Islamic garb while playing basketball for University of South Florida has left the school and returned to Christianity.Andrea Armstrong, who is from Lakeside, Ore., said in an Oct. 6 e-mail to the Oregonian newspaper in Portland that her conversion was a misstep caused by loneliness and estrangement from her home support system."It was my loneliness and forgetfulness of my past teachings that caused me to convert to Islam," she wrote. "I know that my actions caused great controversy over the past few weeks. I had no idea that a decision that I thought I was making for myself would reach out so far beyond myself and affect so many."Armstrong's story drew international headlines when she announced she left the team and lost her scholarship after coach Jose Fernandez told her she could not wear the religiously mandated long pants, top with long sleeves and scarf during practices or games.Armstrong then met with Fernandez, university officials and a representative of Council on American-Islamic Relations, and officials agreed that the team would accommodate her Islamic attire and reinstate her scholarship. The university also agreed to ask the NCAA for an exemption to its uniform policy to allow her to wear a scarf.The following week, Armstrong met with Fernandez and quit the team, saying she didn't want the uniform issue "to cause further distraction." She withdrew from classes Sept. 23, according to the school's registrar's office.Armstrong returned to her hometown after leaving USF."At the time, I thought Florida was what I wanted," she said in the e-mail to the Oregonian. "I did not realize that with this move I was slowly distancing myself from God, my family and friends."Had I recognized the emptiness that I felt for what it was -- a homesickness for my family, friends, and home town -- I would not have tried so hard to fill it with an unfamiliar religion. I take full responsibility for my actions and live in the certainty that God will forgive me."Armstrong played one season for USF, averaging 3.4 points and 2.3 rebounds in 2003-04, after transferring from Kansas State.