The former Casey Scorpions and Frankston Dolphins VFL player is on the radar of several high-profile college teams in the Southeastern and Atlantic Coast conferences.

Lees dreams of playing in the NFL, but his main goal is to get a college degree and play college football.

“In a perfect world that would be great,” the 27-year-old said of his NFL prospects.

“But I’d just be happy to get the academic stuff sorted.

“It appeals to me to go to uni and I always wanted to play professional football to experience it and this is the next best thing.

“The only thing that’s holding me back is my schooling, because I didn’t finish high school.”

Lees is currently studying business sports management in Australia.

He is working with Prokick Australia’s Nathan Chapman, the former Hawthorn and Brisbane player who trains Australians with big kicks into American football punters and place kickers.

Lees, who was banned by AFL Victoria in 2012 for 18 months for importing a fat-burning product he ordered from the US on the internet, said combining his education with a playing career was what attracted him most.

”After my ban I spent a year at Frankston and then an old teammate Cameron Johnston at Casey Scorpions was over there punting for Ohio State,” he said.

“I looked at that and saw he was doing that and getting an education.

“I looked into it and got in contact with Nathan Chapman.”

Lees missed a chunk of the O and M season to visit college teams in the US and was amazed by their professionalism.

His mate, former Demons rookie Cameron Johnston, played in Ohio State’s win over Western Michigan at the weekend in front of a whopping crowd of 106,123.

“You’re playing in front of 80-90,000 every week and still getting that professional lifestyle while you get a degree,” Lees said.

“The facilities are amazing and the money involved is amazing.”

Lees was lured to the Pigeons by Brendan Fevola this season, playing 18 of 21 games, including the preliminary final loss to Lavington.

 “The boys were great,” Lees said.

“I think we had a pretty good year.”

Lees is following a similar path to former Wodonga footballer Josh Bartel.

Bartel has played for Canadian clubs Saskatchewan Roughriders and Hamilton Tiger-Cats.