NORMAN — University of Oklahoma head football coach Bob Stoops announced Friday that running back and kickoff returner Alex Ross will transfer.

Ross, a redshirt junior last season, will graduate next week. As a graduate transfer, he will be eligible to play next season at another school.

"Alex has been a great teammate and team guy for four years for us, and we've always been proud of him," said Stoops. "This is an opportunity for him to go somewhere else and play full time. We wish him the best."

Ross has played in 36 career games and has been used largely as a kickoff returner. He ranks third at OU in career kickoff return yard average (25.7) and leaves only 301 yards shy of tying the school record for career kickoff return yards (he has 1,363). He was a second-team All-American by CBSSports.com in 2014 as a redshirt sophomore when he averaged 31.2 yards per return and scored two touchdowns.

Last year he averaged 21.5 yards per kickoff return and had a key 90-yard run-back in OU's Big 12-title-clinching win at Oklahoma State.

An Oklahoma native who attended Jenks High School, Ross has 786 career rushing yards on 123 carries (five touchdowns) for a 6.4 -yard average. He ran 88 times for 595 yards (6.8 average) and four touchdowns, all career highs, as a sophomore. Included was a career-high 144-yard performance on only 13 carries at Iowa State.

He also has 11 career receptions for 66 yards (6.0 average).

A 2014 Academic All-Big 12 Second Team honoree, Ross will graduate with a degree in OU's Arts and Sciences Planned Program (social sciences and organizational studies).