FSU slugger James Tibbs named ACC Player of Year; 5 'Noles honored
Release from FSU Sports Information:
Junior outfielder James Tibbs III was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year Monday, the ninth Seminole to earn the honor. Tibbs and starting pitcher Jamie Arnold also earned All-ACC First Team honors, while Cam Smith was the second-team third baseman and Jaime Ferrer and Marco Dinges earned third-team recognition.
Tibbs, from Marietta, Georgia, led the ACC with 24 home runs, 78 RBI, an .840 slugging percentage, 1.340 OPS and 168 total bases. He finished top 10 in the league in batting average (third, .385), on-base percentage (fourth, .500), hits (fifth, 77), runs (seventh, 61), doubles (eighth, 17) and walks (ninth, 42).
In conference play, Tibbs’ on-base percentage rose to .519, tops in the league.
Among Tibbs notable achievements in 2024, he was the only qualifying hitter in the conference with more home runs than strikeouts. His 24 home runs are 10th-most in a season at Florida State and the most since ACC Player of the Year Buster Posey hit 26 in 2008.
Tibbs’ 51 career home runs are sixth in program history. He had five multi-home run games this year.
Tibbs started all 53 games for FSU in right field, with zero errors and six outfield assists. He also added a career-high six stolen bases.
Arnold, from Tampa, led FSU with a 9-3 record and 124 strikeouts while leading the ACC with a 2.42 ERA. Opponents hit just .220 against the sophomore left-hander.
Arnold began the season with 24.1 innings without allowing an earned run. At No. 3 Clemson, Arnold allowed just one run over 7.0 innings and at Pittsburgh, Arnold struck out 17 batters – the most for a Seminole since 1987 and the most in the ACC since 2018 – while allowing just one run and no walks. Arnold’s 17 strikeouts are the second-most in the country this season.
Smith was the second-team third baseman after hitting .400 with 13 home runs and 18 doubles. Smith started all 53 games for the Seminoles and ranked second in the ACC in batting average, the highest for a Seminole since 2009.
Smith’s 70 runs and 88 hits were second in the league. Smith was fifth with a .484 on-base percentage and sixth in doubles and total bases (147).
Ferrer, and outfielder from Bayamon, Puerto Rico, hit .305 with a career-high 15 home runs and 46 RBI. Ferrer’s three-run home run in the first inning at No. 6 Duke led FSU to a 4-2 win.
Ferrer and Tibbs both hit two grand slams in 2024. Dinges, from Beekman, New York, led FSU with three grand slams, part of a school-record nine that FSU hit this season.
Dinges hit .307 with 12 home runs, nine doubles and 45 runs scored. He added 56 RBI and 32 walks, both second on the team behind Tibbs. Dinges served as Florida State’s primary designated hitter.
Three times in 2024, Dinges had a grand slam and five total RBI in a game – against Louisville, Florida and North Florida. He also added a pair of triples against the Cardinals.
Tibbs is FSU’s ninth ACC Player of the Year and first since Mat Nelson in 2021. Joining Tibbs and Nelson is J.D. Drew (1997), Marshall McDougall (1999), John-Ford Griffin (2001), Tony Thomas Jr. (2007), Posey (2008), James Ramsey (2012) and DJ Stewart (2014).
This is Tibbs’, Arnold’s and Dinges’ first end-of-year honors from the ACC. Ferrer and Smith were on the All-Freshman Team in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
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