[1] In 1983, he attended the University of Connecticut, playing on the men's soccer team for one season before failing out of school.
That year, he signed with the Dayton Dynamo of the National Professional Soccer League.
Cook began the 1990–1991 season with Dynamo, scoring fourteen goals in eighteen games.
However, in January 1991, Cook criticized Dynamo's owner for firing head coach Tony Glavin.
In September, the Power traded Cook back to the Dynamo in exchange for Mark Simpson.