HOUSTON (Feb. 19,2024) - Houston Dynamo 2 signed defender Obafemi Awodesu to an MLS NEXT Pro contract for 2024 plus a club option for 2025, the team announced today.
"We are excited to have Obafemi join the club and continue his development with our staff here in Houston,” Dynamo Assistant General Manager Nick Kowba said. “He had a successful collegiate career, winning individual accolades and championships. That is the type of competitor we want on the team, one that will demand more from our group.”
Awodesu recently completed a four-year career at Penn State where he won the Big Ten Championship, Big Ten Tournament Title and regular season title in 2021. The team recently split the regular season title with the Indiana Hoosiers during the 2023 campaign and reached the conference tournament final.
His individual accolades include Big Ten Defender of the Year honors in 2022 and 2023. The defender was also named to the First Team All-Big Ten in his senior season and to the Second Team All-Big Ten in his junior year. He started in 61 of his 65 appearances for Penn State and scored six goals, including three in his senior season.
At the youth level, Awodesu attended YSC Academy and played for the Chargers Academy in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy. The defender spent four seasons with the Philadelphia Union Academy prior to his collegiate career and signed a USL Academy contract with the Tampa Bay Rowdies prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The defender joined the first team for both preseason trips and saw action throughout the five preseason games scheduled in both Guadalajara, Mexico and Orlando.
