Keishen Bean has declared his desire to pull on a Bermuda Hogges jersey - but only if it doesn't threaten his eligibility to play college football in the US.

Bean, one of the rising stars of local football, is waiting for clarification from Lynn College in Florida on whether he is able to feature in the USL-2 without it contravening his amateur status.

Although the North Village man would relish the opportunity to enhance his growing reputation at pro-level, he stressed he would not pen a Hogges contract if it might be detrimental to his scholarship chances.

"Playing for the Hogges would be a great opportunity and something I'd love to do," said Bean, who scored against New England Revolution for Bermuda last month. "I'm flattered they are interested in me and hopefully things can be worked out.

"The ideal situation would be me playing for the Hogges and still being able to return to Lynn College in August with my amateur status intact. Scholarships are only awarded to amateur players and protecting my status is my priority. Obviously Hogges are a pro outfit and that's where the difficulty lies.

"I'm waiting for Lynn College to give me the heads up on what I'm able to do."

Subtle changes will be made to Bermuda Hogges' 2008 roster and franchise president Shaun Goater is known to be an admirer of Bean's qualities, especially as a holding midfielder.

"If Keishen is available he's a player the Hogges would be interested in," said Goater. "I've been impressed from what I've seen of him for the national team recently and technically he's a very good player.

"The fact he can play as a striker, attacking midfielder and holding midfielder would be a bonus for any coach."

Bean started the academic year at Lynn College but has been back in Bermuda since New Year waiting for "eligibility problems", which are believed to have arisen from professional trials he had as a teenager, to be worked out.

The 20-year-old said he was unable to comment on the details of those issues.

He added: "I didn't play last season for the Hogges because I didn't want to jeopardise my amateur status. If things don't work out this time around hopefully the Hogges will be there for me in the future."

Meanwhile, Goater said national team left back Stanton Lewis would not be considered for the Hogges this season with the Boulevard player still recovering from a long-term knee injury.

"Stan is a quality player and someone we would definitely be interested in if he was fit," he said. "But it will take him a long time to return to full fitness and he hasn't started playing again yet."