Warrenton senior Kayla Nelson signed her letter of intent to play basketball at John Brown University last week in the Warrenton gymnasium.

Nelson, who is also a member of the Warrenton volleyball and track teams, visited the John Brown University campus in the spring.

“When I first went down there at the end of the school year, I liked the campus right away, but it was still early and I wanted to look around more,” she said. “But after looking around, nothing was better than John Brown.”

The NAIA school is located in Siloam Springs, Ark., and is a member of the Sooner Athletic Conference.

The Eagles — which finished 23-9 last season — run a unique offense that has kept Nelson busy preparing for next season.

“Their offense is really different than what we run,” she said. “There isn’t a lot of posting up, and a lot of their offense is based on shooting 3s. I’ve been practicing my 3s because I want to get ready for that level.”

Nelson averaged 11.8 points and a team-high 7.4 rebounds at forward last season, but her head coach doesn’t seem worried about her transition to a different offense.

“When I first got here, (Warrenton Athletic Director) Bobby Spoonster really sold me on how special this group of kids was,” Warrenton Head Coach Greg Williams said. “When I first saw Nellie, I saw that she had great size and athleticism. And then she combined those things with her work ethic, and this is what can happen. She’s a great kid, she’s worked hard and she’s been a real blessing to our program.”

Despite playing three sports for Warrenton, as well as club sports in the summer, Nelson has logged hundreds of extra hours in the Warrenton gym the last three years.

“She’d come in here on Saturdays and shoot,” Williams said. “She’d come in here after track practice and shoot. She told herself this was going to happen. She decided she wanted to become a basketball player, and she did it.”

Nelson said Friday’s signing was a relief.

“I just can’t wait to get to college now,” she said.

Before that happens, Nelson and Williams will have one more high school season together, which begins next month.

“I’ve been hard on her, and we’ve had good moments and bad moments,” Williams said. “But I couldn’t have asked for a better kid. Looking back at my career, she’s one of my favorites.”