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The Monroe senior quarterback, running back and linebacker signed with Jamestown College of Jamestown, N.D., and a member of the NAIA Dakota Athletic Conference. Jamestown, 7-3 in 2008, was ranked 25th nationally in the final NAIA Football Coaches Poll of the season.

Nelson, 5-foot-11 and 180 pounds, attracted interest from Jamestown after its head coach, Bud Etzold, saw his proflle on a Web site, berecruited.com.

“He e-mailed me and said we want you to look at our school. He said, too, that we’re interested in you and we’d like to get more film of you,” Nelson said Tuesday night in a telephone interview.

Nelson was allowed to play for Monroe last fall after receiving a preliminary injunction against the Alaska School Activities Association during a two-day hearing last August in Fairbanks Superior Court.

Nelson’s parents, Suzy and Ted Coronel, had filed for the injunction against the state’s governing body for high school athletics after they had applied for and were denied a transfer waiver for Nelson to transfer from West Valley High School to Monroe.

Nelson missed Monroe’s season opener, but played the remaining seven games for the Rams of the Greatland Conference.

“It really took a long time, and at first, I thought it might have not been worth it,” Nelson, 18, said, “but I love this sport more than anything.

“If it meant sitting through a couple days of court and missing some school, it was definitely worth it. I thought that maybe it showed people how much I cared about the sport.”

Nelson was joined by his parents, friends and Monroe school administration at Tuesday’s signing.

Nelson is also 95-percent recovered from a broken leg he suffered in last year’s regular-season finale at Sitka. He is scheduled to participate in Jamestown’s spring training camp in May, which will also be his first visit to the North Dakota campus.

He said that Etzold was looking at him for an offensive skill position — either quarterback, wide receiver, running back or slotblack — or to play at linebacker for Jamestown. Nelson received a second-team honor last season as an outside linebacker on the All-Greatland Conference Team.

Nelson hasn’t decided on a major at Jamestown but he is considering criminal justice, business or international relations. He’s also interested in a career in the military or as a federal law enforcement officer following college.

However, he wanted to experience college life and a college gridiron before he began a career.

“I had got offered a full ride (scholarship) to the Valley Forge Military Academy (in Pennsylvania),” said Nelson, “but I wanted to experience the college lifestyle first, and the football aspect of college.”