Former Union academy coach Jeff Cook reaps the rewards of his Philly-to-Penn State soccer pipeline

A toothy smile drew across Kris Shakes’ face as he sat inside a Penn State film room. The fifth-year goalkeeper for the Nittany Lions men’s soccer team could barely get the words out when telling one of his favorite stories from high school.

Shakes moved — alone — from Florida to Philadelphia at age 15 to continue his soccer career with the Union’s youth academy, living in host homes with seven or eight other academy members. He and another senior-year roommate, Ben Ofeimu, had recently committed to play for Penn State coach Jeff Cook, who was fresh off his tenure as a coach with the academy.

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Ofeimu, Shakes said, was one of those friends you can’t even look at without laughing. Cook called the pair one day to stress his excitement in bringing them to Happy Valley and, for some reason, Ofeimu addressed Cook as “Jeffrey.”

Hilarity ensued.

“My buddy, we just looked at each other, and we can’t stop laughing. Crying out laughing,” Shakes recalled. “Jeff’s on speaker phone like, ‘What’s going on boys?’”

Ofeimu wound up pursuing a professional career instead,but Shakes and Cook now have a seven- or eight-year running relationship, through plenty of highs like that phone call and a few lows, thanks to their paths crossing at the Union academy. Cook joined the Union’s organization in 2013, a major step in his coaching career while helping serve as a key cog in getting the upstart academy program off the ground.

That time with Philadelphia has also benefited his current endeavors. Cook has continued his relationship with the Union’s academy since his departure, turning it into somewhat of a Penn State pipeline. Four current Nittany Lions spent time in Philadelphia, others have already passed through, more are on the way this January, and new offers have already been made to current academy members.

Many of those same players were key in helping Penn State capture the Big Ten regular-season title this fall.

“I joke [that] I have a timeshare down at the Union,” Cook said, mentioning the difficulty and balance of recruiting Division I soccer talent vs. the opportunities for some players to sign professional contracts elsewhere. “We got to watch a lot of games, a lot of practices. We recruit there actively. That’s where the relationships are important to have a conversation about [the] pathway.”

In today’s youth soccer development, the pathway isn’t so much a path to Division I and hope for the best. With the rise of the youth academy system, promoted and financed heavily by Major League Soccer franchises, the path today has become a real path to the pro level.

In Cook’s case, however, he’s still a bit old school.

“I’m a big believer that college is an important part of the pathway for most — not all, but most — young prospects,” Cook said. “Just trying to have open and honest conversations. I understand, having worked and lived in that environment, I understand exactly what they’re trying to achieve.”

Professional soccer looks glamorous from the outside looking in, Cook said, but it’s truly a business from within. During his time with the Union, Cook said academy members were pouring time and energy into something foreign to American soccer with no idea it would produce stars like Brenden and Paxten Aaronson, the pair of Medford-based brothers whom Cook coached who now are professionals in Germany’s top division.

“It was almost like a speculative investment. But we were very convinced that we could be successful,” Cook said. “That can be uncomfortable, right? You know, they’re investing literally millions of dollars. So that was a big lesson about the reality of professional sports.”

Shakes’ time at the academy was unique. Cook mentioned how visible his bubbly personality and talent were as soon as he enrolled. That quickly turned into opportunities to train with older age groups — including the first team on a few occasions.

Cook called up Shakes to be the goalkeeper on his under-18 team a year early, playing against the top talent in the age group. Shakes, who harps on the unlikelihood of being just 5-foot-10 as a goalie, nodded to the Union’s academy as a defining factor in his soccer career.

Just how much? He now sits in the top three on Penn State’s all-time saves list.

“I felt the confidence he saw in me, elevated my aspirations of playing soccer even more, especially at the highest level,” Shakes said. “[He] was really the first coach that gave me that kind of confidence. Definitely one of the most important people in my life. It took a lot of trust for him to bring me here and give me what he gave me over the last four years.”

Nittany Lions defender Femi Awodesu had a somewhat different path. A Philadelphia native, he got his start through the junior academy ranks before enrolling full-time with the Union academy.

Cook never coached him directly, as Awodesu left the academy in search of more playing time before he reached the under-18 team. As an attacker, Awodesu had some frustration from not always making rosters and waiting for his development to blossom. Cook, however, always knew the talent Awodesu had, it was simply a matter of allowing his game to mature and develop physically.

Awodesu took a gap year to play for a club team in Florida and signed to play college soccer at Stetson. Cook and Penn State played in Florida against Stetson, coincidentally at the same time Awodesu took an official visit to the school. Fast forward a few months, Stetson made a coaching change, allowing Awodesu to cancel his commitment and get in contact with Cook at Penn State.

Cook welcomed Awodesu, having finally grown more into his 6-3 frame and making the switch to the defensive side of the pitch, with open arms. Despite not closely interacting with Cook at the academy, Awodesu’s time there was a clear factor in arriving at Penn State.

While retelling his journey, he remembered times when Cook would come to him during his freshman year and randomly say he’d one day be a team captain. Sure enough, Awodesu has served as a cocaptain through the 2023 season, providing physical defense and vocal leadership.

A long way from the kid filled with talent who was just waiting for a breakthrough.

“I was actually surprised that Jeff was willing to take such a big chance on me,” Awodesu said. “I think Jeff’s one of those people that knows being a good person and being a good human being goes a long way in this game.”

Cook, evidenced by his commitment to players like Shakes and Awodesu, is a big believer in what the program has done. The Union has finished among the top three of MLS’s Eastern Conference in each of the last four seasons.

They have done so while having a payroll that ranks among the bottom 10 teams in the league, which Cook referenced as barometers for the academy’s success.

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It’s the reason he’ll continue to stop by his “timeshare” for recruiting visits. It’s beneficial to a pipeline that has proved very successful — on both ends.

“[I’m] still a fan. That’s my team, for sure [and] I’m proud of my time there,” said Cook. “Really fortunate to be exposed to an environment that allowed me to grow as a coach, as a professional person generally. You were part of a big soccer family that sometimes was really inspiring and sometimes, like any family, had challenges, frustrations, disagreements. Because it’s a highly competitive environment where results matter, in a very real sense. And I really feel fortunate to have had that experience.”