Scott was born in Vicenza, Italy, while his father was serving in the U.S. Army. He began diving on a local summer swim team after his family moved to New Jersey. He soon joined Jim Stillson at Columbia University on his age group team. When the family moved to Texas, Scott was 12 and he dove with Terry Faulkenberry on the Woodlands Diving Team. Terry and his teammates had a huge influence on Scott and his drive and determination to excel. He was named to the National American High School Team all four years and was national champion twice. As an age group diver, Scott medaled or won several TAGDA events.

Scott won his first National Age Group title when he was 13 and made the senior national team when he was 15. He remained on the senior team for 13 years until his retirement at age 27. During his time with U.S. Diving, Scott had the privilege to represent the United States at many national and international events.

During Scott’s four years at SMU with Jim Stillson again, he won 11 of the possible 12 titles at the Southwest Conference meets. He placed second in the other event. He was an 11-time national U.S. diving champion and he won the Phillips Performance award and multiple High Point awards. He was the NCAA Diver of the Year twice and was a four-time NCAA all-American and NCAA collegiate academic all-American. Scott was a member of the Dallas Table of Champions and the winner of the US Diving “Who Sam” Award in 1989. He graduated from SMU in 1990 with a degree in advertising. In 2016, Scott was inducted into the SMU Athletic Hall of Fame.

In 1992, Scott won the silver medal in platform diving at the Barcelona Olympics and in 1996, he placed fourth in the springboard diving event at the Atlanta games. He was the two-page center photo in Sports Illustrated for the 1992 and 1996 Olympics. He was also on the index page for the 1988 Olympic Edition. After each Olympic meet, Scott took time off and spent his time in Houston visiting family and friends and also visiting patients at the Texas Children’s Hospital and local schools giving motivational speeches and sharing his medal and story. He also attended Special Olympics events when possible. His mother was a Special Olympics coach.

After retirement from diving, Scott moved to New York City where he met and married his wife Kaili. They have a daughter, Lucy. He soon returned to diving as the head coach at NYU where he remained for 16 years. Scott then moved to be the head diving coach at Columbia University. He is also the head coach for the age group team at Columbia. He is a member of the NYC Olympic bid committee and he continues to deliver motivational speeches at schools and camps. He also mentors and coaches U.S. Diving clinics.