ST. LOUIS - The Indiana State Sycamores had four players represent the program on the All-Missouri Valley Conference teams announced earlier today by the league office.

Redshirt freshman linebacker Aaron Archie headlined the group of honorees as he was named to the league's second team. Senior defensive back Donye McCleskey, junior defensive lineman Rod Hardy and junior return specialist Darrius Gates were all named to the honorable mention list.

Archie, who is a candidate for the league's Newcomer and Freshman of the Year honors which will be announced next week, was a second team selection. Archie led Indiana State with 117 total tackles on the season, which ranks 15th in the history of the program for a single season. His 10.6 tackles per game average finished second in the league and 12th nationally. He made 52 solo stops and was second on the team with 10 tackles for loss and a pair of quarterback sacks. Archie recovered a fumble and reached double digit tackles in eight contests, including all but one league game. He had at least two tackles for loss in three league contests with two sacks against Missouri State. Archie was credited with a season high 16 tackles against North Dakota State.

McCleskey finished second on the team with 92 tackles and made 46 solo and 46 assisted tackles. He had three tackles for loss and one quarterback sack. McCleskey intercepted a pass against Louisville and Illinois State. He recorded a season high 15 tackles against South Dakota State and recorded a sack versus Eastern Illinois. McCleskey reached double digit tackles at Northern Iowa with 11 and averaged 8.3 tackles per game which ranked seventh best in the league.

Hardy paced the team with 11 tackles for loss and tied for the team lead with three quarterback sacks. He posted 42 total tackles on the season and came into the game against Northern Iowa as part of the team's offensive jumbo package and plunged in from one-yard out to record his first career rushing touchdown. Hardy was the first ISU defensive starter to score an offensive touchdown since the 2005 season. He forced a pair of fumbles and posted a team-high six tackles against Louisville, Northern Iowa and Western Illinois. Hardy had a pair of sacks at Illinois State. He had multiple tackles for loss against Eastern Illinois, UNI, ILS, Western Illinois and Southern Illinois. His .82 tackles per loss per game average finished in a tie for ninth-best in the MVFC.

Gates paced the team and the Missouri Valley Football Conference with a 27.1 yards per kickoff return average, which also ranked as the fifth-best mark in the nation. He returned 19 kickoffs for 514 yards with a season-long return of 57 yards against Eastern Illinois. He had five kickoff returns for 138 yards at Illinois State and recorded a 55-yard return at Louisville. Gates returned five kickoffs for 131 yards against North Dakota State. He finished the year with 74 rushes for 266 yards while he posted 15 pass receptions for 124 yards and completed a 75-yard touchdown pass in the season opener against Quincy.