SPRINGFIELD - Missouri State men's soccer head coach Michael Seabolt has announced 11 incoming players to its 2024 signing class. The Bears have received National Letters of Intent from: Davide Carmignani, Adrián Esteban, Oskar Haugli, Tom Hennah, Hugo Jinkinson, Roman Khela, Henry Okenla, Diego Real, Fumiya Shiraishi, Daniel Souza and Daniele Verdirosi.

"The 2024 season starts this spring and it is tremendous to have exciting new additions join an excellent returning group of players that we know are hungry to keep improving," Seabolt said. "We are looking forward to getting on the field and working together. A big thank you to the coaching staff, and everyone associated with Missouri State University for their work to attract and bring in high-caliber student-athletes to this University. Let's go Bears!"

Seabolt and the Bears are coming off consecutive 12-win seasons and are just one of nine Division I teams to make the last five NCAA Tournaments.

Joining the squad this spring are:

Davide Carmignani (Defender, 6-2, 177, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia)
Carmingnani joins the Missouri State Bears' nationally-touted defense out of Australia where he played for Brisbane Olympic Football Club. In his last season with Brisbane Olympic as one of the youngest players on the squad, Carmignani played in nine matches for 515 minutes. He had the game-winning assist in stoppage time on 5/19/23 and the opening goal in a 6-0 win on 8/26/23 with both games against Eastern Suburbs Brisbane. 

Adrián Esteban (Midfielder, 5-9, 163, Madrid, Spain)
Esteban makes his way on the Missouri State roster after gaining a lot of experience playing in the Spanish youth system while growing up. He played for the Real Madrid CF Youth, U17 and U18 teams before joining Eibar U19 and SD Eibar Urko. He also played for CF Rápid de Murillo in Spain in his youth.

Oskar Haugli (Defender, 6-6, 185, Bærum, Norway, Virginia Tech)
Haugli adds depth to a Bear's backline that was eighth in the nation in both shutout percentage (.526) and team goals against average (.737). He made three starts with seven appearances at Virginia Tech across 309 minutes in 2022. He had one shot on goal against Pittsburgh on 10/14/22 in a game where he played all 90 minutes. Before his NCAA career, Haugli played for clubs in Norway such as Snarøya SK, Ullern IF and Bærum SK, the latter of which he played for two seasons in the Norwegian second division.

Tom Hennah (Defender, 6-0, 154, Little Sandhurst, Berkshire, England, Northeast Community College)
Hennah comes to Missouri State by way of Northeast Community College in Norfolk, Nebraska. In his two years with the Northeast Hawks, Hennah started in all 45 games he appeared in. He scored three goals and four assists in 2022, including a goal in Northeast's first-ever win in a national tournament in a 3-0 win over Massasoit Community College on 11/15/22. Hennah took another big step in 2023, scoring one goal and nine assists in 2023 where the Hawks went 22-2. He had two stretches with an assist in three consecutive games, including a pair of assists against Southeastern Community College on 10/14/23. With Hennah, the Northeast Hawks won back-to-back Region XI Tournaments and Plains District titles and had a combined record of 42-8. Hennah and the Hawks played against Missouri State in an exhibition match at Betty & Bobby Allison South Stadium last season on 8/9/23.

Hugo Jinkinson (Defender, 6-1, 181, Leicester, England, Monroe College)
Jinkinson transfers to Missouri State from Monroe College in New Rochelle, New York where the Mustangs won back-to-back NJCAA Division I National Championships in both years he was there (2022 and 2023) under head coach Marcus DiBernardo. Throughout his championship-winning seasons, Jinkinson made 14 starts in 19 appearances, scoring two goals and playing just over 600 minutes each season. In 2022, he scored his goals in back-to-back games against South Carolina-Lancaster on 8/28/22 and Montgomery College-Rockville on 9/2/2022. He scored in consecutive games again in 2023, only this time to start the season against South Carolina-Sumter on 8/25/23 and USC Lancaster on 8/27/23. The Mustangs went 16-0-3 in games he played and outscored opponents 80-11 in those matches.

Roman Khela (Defender, 6-0, 176, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England)
Khela joins the Bears following an impressive youth career in England. He signed with Leeds United at the age of 14 following multiple UK Football trial events before he signed with the club in 2019. Khela was a part of the 2019 Leeds United Club that won the Flint Micasa U14 Cup in Tønsberg, Norway. He later went on to play for Fleetwood Town before coming to Missouri State.

Henry Okenla (Forward, 6-2, 178, London, England, Boston College)
Okenla transfers to Missouri State after playing his freshman year at Boston College. He made eight appearances in 2023, including one start on the road against Virginia Tech where he played a season-high 49 minutes on 9/22/23. Okenla played 161 minutes for the Eagles last season under head coach Bob Thompson. Before college, Okenla played for Port Vale FC in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England from 2020-2023 in the English Football League One. He attended Twyford Secondary School where he also participated in cricket, basketball and ran track as a sprinter.

Diego Real (Midfielder, 6-0, 168, Valencia, Spain, Mid-America Christian University)
Real comes to Springfield after playing the last two seasons at Mid-America Christian University in Oklahoma City (2022 and 2023). The NAIA school won back-to-back Sooner Athletic Conference Tournaments and reached the NAIA quarterfinals in 2022. Real was a cornerstone of a MACU Evangels team that went 19-2-2 the year it went to the NAIA quarterfinals under head coach Danny Frid, who is now the associate head coach at Missouri State. MACU is fresh off an undefeated 17-0-4 2023 season that ended in the second round of the NAIA Tournament in a penalty shootout. Real scored the game-tying goal in the 57th minute in that game and earned an assist as well. He notched two assists in the SAC Tournament title game against the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma. Real led the team with 11 assists in 2022 and seven assists in 2023. He scored his first career goal on 9/27/22 against Wayland Baptist. As a freshman in 2022, Real was named to the NAIA All-American Third Team, the All-SAC First Team and the SAC Freshman of the Year.

Fumiya Shiraishi (Forward, 5-7, 157, Tokyo, Japan, Marshalltown Community College, Florida International University)
Shiraishi continues his college career with Missouri State after playing his first two seasons at NJCAA Marshalltown Community College in Iowa (2020-21) and another two seasons at Florida International (2022-23). While at Marshalltown, Shiraishi made 12 starts in 15 appearances. He scored 10 goals with seven of them coming in the 2021 season where he was named to the All-Region XI First Team.

Shiraishi then went to Florida International for two seasons where he made 13 starts in 23 appearances, scoring four goals in 2022 and two in 2023 across 1,502 minutes. He scored a goal and an assist in his Florida International debut against RV Akron on 8/25/22. He also scored a goal against South Florida on 10/16/22. The FIU Panthers went 14-5-1 in 2022, winning the American Athletic Conference and advancing to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. In 2023, Shiraishi scored a goal against Temple on 9/16/23 and Tulsa on 11/1/23. The Panthers defeated Mercer in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to Virginia in the second round.

Daniel Souza (Midfielder, 5-10, 163, Constância, Santarém, Portugal)
Souza joins the Missouri State Bears out of Portugal where he played for União Santarém as one of the youngest members on the roster and in his position group. Souza made multiple appearances for União Santarém and now joins a Bears squad known for its strong midfield play.

Daniele Verdirosi (Forward, 6-0, 157, Rome, Italy, Eastern Florida State College)
Verdirosi transfers to Missouri State after decorated stints with the Indian Hills Community College Warriors (2022) in Ottumwa, Iowa and with the East Florida State College Titans (2023) in Melbourne, Florida. With the NJCAA Warriors, Verdirosi scored 19 goals across 17 starts and 22 games played. He scored in over half of his games, including a hat trick on three shots against No. 6 Iowa Lakes in a 3-1 win on 9/25/22. He led the Warriors to their second-ever NJCAA Division I Region XI Championship in a 2-0 win over No. 1 Iowa Western where Verdirosi scored in the opening minute. He was named the 2022 NJCAA Division I Region XI Player of the Year, the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference Player of the Year and a NJCAA Division I First Team All-American. 

His star-studded career continued last season at NJCAA Eastern Florida State College in the Florida College System Activities Association. Verdirosi scored 11 goals in 16 appearances with 13 starts in 2023 to lead the Titans to a 15-3 record and a Southeast District Championship. He scored a hat trick against Lakeland on 9/26/23. Verdirosi was named an NJCAA Division I Second Team All-American and to the United Soccer Coaches All-American Team.