While Colorado coach Dan Hawkins and his peers around the state watch most of the best in-state players leave to play college football elsewhere this year, one the state`s top prospects from the 2009 recruiting cycle wants to return and play in Boulder.

Josh Ford was a three-star running back recruit from Mullen High School in Denver who chose to leave the state last year to attend Kansas State as an invited walk-on. He broke his wrist during summer workouts and said he never enrolled in Manhattan, Kan.

He is attending Barton Community College in Kansas and said he has been in contact with CU coaches and the admissions office in Boulder and hopes to become a Buff this summer. He said the only thing standing in the way is being accepted by the school.

Ford said in hindsight, he has a different view of his decision to leave the state for college. He said he made a mistake by allowing what his friends were doing to influence his decision.

"I grew up a CU fan," Ford said. "I made the mistake of going to K-State cause I seen guys from my high school going to Cal, Texas and Stanford. So I was like, 'I got to get out of here.'"

Ford is hoping to get a second chance. He said he hopes to help influence recruits in future classes to stay in Colorado and build a winner again in Boulder. His uncle, Howard Ballage, played flanker for the Buffs for three seasons in the 1970s.

"My thing with CU is, my goal is, I want to help CU out and lead the team, but I also want to show that our in-state players should stay in-state," Ford said. "We`ve got guys going here and going there, but at CU, we could really be dominant. We have all the great players we need. We have guys who are leaving who could contribute to the CU program. It`s just my love for the school really."

If Ford does become a Buff, it will be interesting to see if he can follow through on his plan to help Hawkins seal up the state. He is good friends with at least a half-dozen recruits in the 2011 class and is former teammates with some of the prized prospects from Mullen, including running back Adonis Ameen-Moore and linebacker Leilon Willingham.

"I`m going to be trying to start a path for them to follow, make a trail," he said.

Ford said he plans to walk-on in Boulder with hopes of earning a scholarship. He plays running back, a position where CU needs more talent and depth heading into next season. He said he hasn`t talked with CU coaches about where he will fit into the program if he is able to get into school.

"I play running back," Ford said. "That`s where I see myself dominating, at the running back position. But, honestly, I`ll play wherever they need me. I`m about the team and helping the program."