ST. LOUIS - The Missouri State men's soccer team has six five players named to the 2024 Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete Team, the league announced Tuesday morning. The Bears had a league-high four players make the scholar-athlete first team.

Jesus Barea, Ollie Bate, Alex Matthews and Daniel Normann represent Missouri State's league-leading four scholar-athlete first team nods. Tyler Caton is the lone Bears to make the MVC Scholar-Athlete second team.

The Bears make up five of the 22 total scholar-athletes. Western Michigan's Noah James was named the MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

Barea (Cádiz, Spain) makes his second straight MVC Scholar-Athlete first team after making his first appearance last year. Barea is tied for fourth in the nation in goals (15), which is tied for the second-most goals in a single season in Missouri State history. He was named Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year for the second time in his career, becoming the first Bear to win the award twice. He was also the league's Forward of the Year and made the All-MVC first team. Barea became the program's all-time leader in shots taken (261). He is also second in program history in career starts (85), tied for second in career goals (34) and third in career points (87). He was recently named to the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District Team. Barea is majoring in exercise & movement science.

Bate (Yorkshire, England) makes the MVC Scholar-Athlete first team following his second-team appearance last season. The junior has made a career-high 17 starts this season while matching his totals from last year in goals (1) and assists (2). Bate was last year's MVC men's soccer Elite 17 Award winner, presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average competing at the finals site at each of the MVC team championships. Bate has taken a career-high 13 shots this season, including a career-high three in the second round of the NCAA Tournament against Kansas City. He also cracked 1,000 minutes played in a season for the first time in his career.  He was recently named to the CSC Academic All-District Team. Bate is majoring in exercise & movement science.

Matthews (Derbyshire, England) makes his first career MVC Scholar-Athlete team after starting all 18 matches for Missouri State. He was one of three Bears to make the All-MVC first team in 2024. Matthews led Missouri State with 1,593 minutes on the field — all but 27 minutes for the whole season — and had a career-high two assists in 2024. He contributed to the team's +22 goal differential and its 239-109 shot differential. He also made the 2024 MVC All-Tournament Team. Matthews is majoring in journalism.

Normann (Husnes, Norway) also makes the jump from MVC Scholar-Athlete second team last year to the first team this year. He played 15 matches with six starts in 2024 for a total of 511 minutes. Normann had a career-high three assists, including the game-winning assist in Missouri State's win over Bowling Green on Oct. 20. He was named to the 2023 CSC Academic All-District Team and has won the MVC Commissioner's Academic Excellence Award each of the last two seasons. Normann is majoring in finance.

Caton (Surrey, England) represents the Bears on the MVC Scholar-Athlete second team for his first academic team award. The 2023 MVC Freshman of the Year continued his streak of specialty awards by being named the 2024 MVC Co-Midfielder of the Year. He was named to the All-MVC first team and made the MVC All-Tournament Team for the second year in a row. Caton started all 18 matches for the Bears this season and registered a career-high four assists, tied for the team-most. Caton is majoring in entertainment management.

The Valley's scholar-athlete teams are voted on by the league's soccer sports information directors. 

Nominees for MVC Scholar-Athlete teams must be starters or important reserves with at least a 3.50 cumulative grade-point average (on a 4.00 scale). Also, players must have participated in at least 75 percent of the season matches. Student-athletes must have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at their institution and must have completed at least one full academic year at their institution.