Five-star receiver Tristen Keys flipped his commitment from LSU to Tennessee football Thursday afternoon. Keys originally committed to the Tigers over Tennessee in mid March. But Josh Heupel and his staff never slowed down their pursuit of the elite receiver, landing his commitment five months later.
Keys ranks as a five-star recruit and the No. 6 player in the country according to the 247sports composite rankings. The Hattiesburg native also ranks as the top player in the state of Mississippi and the No. 1 receiver in the 2026 recruiting cycle.
While the 6-foot-2 receiver has long been a LSU commit, he took official visits to Miami, Texas A&M, Tennessee and LSU back in June. Tennessee and Texas A&M were both legit contenders to flip the best prep receiver in the country, but it was Heupel, Kelsey Pope and the Vols that ended up getting the job done.
Keys flipped from LSU to Tennessee weeks after the Vols publicly announced their new apparel deal with adidas that will begin next summer. The blue-chip receiver currently has an NIL deal with adidas and was considering three of college football’s top adidas brands. It’s unclear how significant the adidas aspect was in Keys’ recruitment but it certainly didn’t hurt Tennessee’s push for the five-star.
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Pope, Tennessee’s receivers coach, has done a fantastic job helping the Vols put together one of the bets receiver classes in the 2026 cycle. In addition to Keys, Tennessee boasts commitments from Salesi Moa (No. 31 player), Tyreek King (No. 106 player) and Legend Bey (No. 378 player) this cycle.
Tennessee now boasts commitments from two of the top 10 players in the 247sports composite rankings. Vol quarterback commit Faizon Brandon is the No. 7 player in the country and No. 3 quarterback in the 2026 cycle.
Keys becomes the second consensus five-star commit in the 2026 cycle along with Brandon. Tennessee commits Gabriel Osenda (offensive tackle) and Salesi Moa (athlete) are both rated as five-star recruits on at least one recruiting site.
Landing Keys is an exclamation point on a strong three month stretch for Tennessee on the recruiting circuit. The Vols have now landed 18 commits in the last three months after flipping four-star lineman Kimari Blair from South Carolina last week and Keys from LSU this week.
Tennessee now turns its attention to flipping four-star edge rusher Hezekiah Harris. The Huntsville native has been committed to Auburn for over a year but visited Tennessee over the summer and plans on announcing his “final decision” on Monday.
Keys becomes Tennessee football’s 24rd commitment in the 2026 recruiting cycle and bumps its class ranking from No. 11 to No. 8 nationally according to the 247sports team rankings.
