In the statement, CU coach Dan Hawkins said he is leaving for "assorted personal reasons and assumed he would be transferring closer to his Southern California home."

If Scott, a 6-foot-1, 220-pound tailback from Ventura, Calif., plans on pursuing his football career at another school, Scott will coordinate the paperwork through CU's compliance office, which will also conduct an official exit interview.

He was CU's leader in all-purpose yards with 694, the bulk coming on kickoff returns, as he had 21 for 564 yards and a 26.9 average. He set a school record for the most kickoff return yards in a game with 204 on eight returns at Toledo.

Scott had been bothered by injuries throughout his brief Colorado career. Most recently, he had arthroscopic knee surgery on Oct. 22 to clean up some cartilage after first injuring the knee in the second game of the season at Toledo.

He had 23 carries for 95 yards for the season, most of those coming in the Toledo game, when he carried 12 times for 85 yards. He had 10 carries for nine yards in the next three games prior to undergoing surgery. He was targeting this Saturday's game against Texas A & M as his potential return date, though team medical officials thought the Nov. 14 Iowa State game was appearing more realistic.

Scott entered the fall as one of four players in a most competitive deadlock at tailback. He was the recipient of the Fred Casotti Award as the most improved offensive back during spring ball, as selected by the coaching staff, but the injury limited him to three starts.

As a freshman, he saw action in 11 games, including one start (at Iowa State); he missed one full game and parts of others due to groin and ankle injuries. He finished second on the team in rushing with 343 yards, picking those up on 87 carries for a 3.9 average per rush, and scored one touchdown.

Scott was widely considered the nation's top running back prospect in the 2007 recruiting class, earning top All-America honors from Parade, USA Today, Prep Star and SuperPrep among a host of other accolades.