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Steamboat Springs — Nelson Brassell just wants a chance to continue playing basketball.

The recent Steamboat Springs High School graduate weighed his options and decided his best bet is to play for a year at a prep school before making a college choice.

Brassell is on a waitlist for students and athletes to get into Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, N.H.

"I just want to play basketball," Brassell said. "I figured it would be good to get another year under my belt."

Brassell said he should know by the end of July whether he got into the prep school.

Exeter went 14-5 last year with all five losses against high school and prep school teams ranked in the top 13 nationally.

Brassell was a key cog on the Steamboat basketball team this year, earning first-team Western Slope League honors.

Brassell said he heard about Exeter from boys assistant coach Jim Bronner. Brassell didn't turn in his application until after the deadline, but he said he has been in touch with Exeter's coach and received nothing but positive feedback.

It's not hard to see why. Brassell entered school a year early, and at age 17 still should be in high school. He missed his entire sophomore season with injuries to his ankles before coming off the bench his junior year and starting his senior year.

Physically, between his junior and senior years, Brassell added 30 pounds and 3 inches to his frame.

"It would be awesome," Brassell said about the chance to play at Exeter. "In the Western Slope compared to over there, it's a completely different world. There, college coaches are at every game. But there are 100 kids exactly like me. I have to work my butt off. Even if I'm just practicing with them, it will help my game a lot."

If Brassell doesn't get into Exeter, he's already preparing to go to the University of Colorado. He said he could try to walk on to the Colorado program. But for now, he's banking on Exeter.

"Ideally, I'd get to play, get scouted and then go play in college," he said. "Maybe get a scholarship, and that would be the coolest thing. But I just want to play another year. I just want to keep playing basketball."