It's not often you see college athletes who aren't yet eligible to begin their professional careers announce they are returning.

And yet, that's what we saw from Florida State baseball standout James Tibbs III last May just days after the end of the Seminoles' 2023 season. As a sophomore that season, Tibbs saw his batting average leap from .300 to .338 and increased his power as well with a team-high 17 home runs. Despite his efforts, though, FSU finished the season 23-31, missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1977 and even missing out on the ACC Tournament.

For someone like Tibbs, who was one year removed from being able to declare for the MLB Draft, it may have made sense to look elsewhere for a place to spend his final season in college baseball.

After all, if he put up those numbers in a disappointing FSU lineup, what could he do in a more talented lineup?

Tibbs didn't wait long to announce that he wasn't going anywhere though. He posted on his Twitter account on May 22 -- just two days after the season ended at Louisville -- that he would be a Seminole in 2024.

"Today's college athletics are unlike anything else we've ever seen. It's funny, you definitely see a lot of (transfers) and it's definitely something that will enter your mind, but Florida State means a lot to me. This place has helped mold me into the person that I've become. The people, the memories, all these things helped play a role in my development as a human being, much less a baseball player..." Tibbs told the Osceola this week, reflecting on his decision. "I believe that the Lord will help guide me wherever I go.

"With that, I don't think there was ever a spiritual movement or a really big thought process that went into leaving. This place has given me so much so I couldn't think that leaving this place would be something that would be an advantage to me for my career, my life. Everything that Florida State has allowed me to be a part of, it's something that I definitely was not ready to leave or willing to leave."

Right about now, Tibbs' decision is looking pretty smart. The Seminoles are 19-0, the last unbeaten team in the country and have surged from well outside the top 25 to as high as No. 7 in Baseball America's rankings.

But what made Tibbs believe last year before there was evidence to point to of how quickly Link Jarrett could get the program headed in the right direction after a disastrous first season?

"I've said this from day one: I think coach Jarrett is one of the best if not the best coach in the country," Tibbs said. "For him to win back-to-back Coach of the Year awards and to take that Notre Dame team to Omaha, seeing his plan and what he wanted out of our team and out of us individually, it wasn't hard to be excited about what he had in store for us."

Despite the 2023 struggles, so many of the key pieces on the team elected to run it back in 2024. Tibbs returned as did fellow rising junior outfielder Jaime Ferrer, third baseman Cam Smith, starting pitchers Conner Whittaker and Jamie Arnold and others.

Jarrett and his staff rewarded that loyalty by bringing in quite a haul through the transfer portal. That haul included FSU's Friday starting pitcher Cam Leiter from UCF and three starting infielders in shortstop Alex Lodise (UNF), second baseman Drew Faurot (UCF) and first baseman Daniel Cantu (USF).

Additionally, Alabama catcher transfer Jaxson West has split time as the starter with McGwire Holbrook while Alabama outfield transfer Max Williams has been a valuable bench bat and filled in the last few games for DeAmez Ross in center field.

"The way that (Jarrett) went out and stayed true to himself and stayed true to what he believed in and got the necessary pieces to be able to put together a really solid team this year, it goes without saying how great of a coach he is but just as good of a recruiter," Tibbs said. "To see those guys come in here and really buy into what coach Jarrett has in store for us in the way that he really wants us to play and molding together the pieces not only on the field but as a group of guys that really enjoy being around each other. It's easy to play for that guy. He is as good as they come."

Even through the struggles last season, FSU's batting average jumped considerably from .262 in 2022 to .276 in 2023 in Jarrett's first season. That was the best batting average by an FSU team since the 2016 team hit .294.

This year's team has taken that to another level, though. Five weeks into the season, FSU's .356 batting average is the second-best nationally and less than a point behind Wofford for the national lead. Of the 11 FSU hitters with 25 or more at-bats this season, nine of them are hitting .300 or better and no one is hitting worse than .263.

"It's a sweet feeling. When you look at a lineup and we see everybody hitting up above .300, it's terrifying. To be on that side of seeing those lineups every day, it's pretty fantastic. I truly believe that we have guys that that aren't necessarily playing every day that will end up being really high draft picks for Florida State," Tibbs said. "To have just the depth and the ability, one through nine, to to win and compete in all phases of the game, it creates a lot of fun. It creates a low-stress environment and it's something that you know that somebody is going to be able to compete, whether it be (the top of the order or the bottom). Whatever it may be, those guys are gonna go out there and give their best. To have the amount of success that we've had, it takes a lot of pressure off of maybe just one or two of us to be successful."

As would be expected, Tibbs has played a huge part of that success from FSU's offense, which scored seven-plus runs in each of its first 16 games this season, setting a new program record for consecutive games with seven-plus runs.

The junior right fielder leads the Seminoles in home runs (8), runs batted in (33), slugging percentage (.827) and walks (13). At what is essentially a third of the way through the regular season, he's nearly halfway to last year's home run total and is only 10 RBI short of the 43 he had in 54 games a season ago.

Additionally, he's struck out just six times in 75 at-bats so far this season, tied for the fewest among FSU's everyday starters. That 8% strikeout rate is a farcry from Tibbs' 64 strikeouts in 170 at-bats as a true freshman in 2022 (37.6%)

Now, however, comes a different task for Tibbs, one unlike any he's encountered during his productive time as a Seminole. While he's played in quite a few games during his career -- 129 to be exact -- this will be Tibbs' first time playing in a weekend series between two top-10 teams (according to Baseball America) as No. 7 FSU heads to No. 4 Clemson (18-2, 2-1) for a three-game set beginning with a doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m.

From how everything has gone this season for the Seminoles, it makes total sense how confident Tibbs is in his team entering probably the biggest series of his collegiate career.

"We're excited for sure. I think we have a group of guys that are capable of going and beating anybody," Tibbs said. "While this is a huge rivalry and something that we all look forward to because they're an extremely talented bunch, we have to take care of business on our end. We have to be able to make sure that we're doing things the right way, we're preparing and we're making sure that we don't let the moment get too big. We are confident in what we do and we let our ability and understanding of the game take over in those big opportunities. Because there are going to be several big opportunities this weekend that can make or break this series. Clemson is a fantastic team and they make sure to take advantage of mistakes that are made by opposing teams.

"When we go in there this weekend, we're just going to try to be as confident and consistent with the way we go about our business. We're not looking to try to do too much. We're just trying to play our game and make sure that we do things to the best of our abilities. Yeah, it is an experience and probably one of the biggest ones I've played in for sure. But we just have to make sure that we make the necessary adjustments and do what we need to do. Hopefully that will take care of everything we need to take care of this weekend."

When: Doubleheader starting Saturday at 1 p.m.; Sunday, 1 p.m.

Where: Doug Kinsmore Stadium, Clemson, S.C.

TV: ACC Network Extra

Radio: 100.7 FM in Tallahassee and Seminoles.com

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