Tennessee football made a major splash on the recruiting trail Thursday afternoon when five-star receiver Tristen Keys flipped his commitment from LSU to Tennessee. Keys passes quarterback Faizon Brandon as the highest rated commit in the Vols’ 2026 recruiting class.
Keys originally committed to the Tigers over Tennessee back in March. But Tennessee never stopped recruiting Keys, hosting him on an official visit and continuing to push for his commitment as the summer waned. Credit Brandon, who visited Tennessee the same week as Keys and helped Josh Heupel recruit the blue-chip receiver.
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.
The 6-foot-2, 185-pound receiver is the second consensus five-star committed to Tennessee in the 2026 cycle with two other Tennessee commits ranking as five-stars on certain sites.
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.
So where does Tennessee’s recruiting class rank after flipping Keys? The Vols jumped multiple teams including LSU into the top 10 of the rankings. Here’s where they now stand.
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247sports
National rank before Keys’ flipped: No. 11
National rank after Keys’ flipped: No. 8
SEC rank before Keys’ flipped: No. 6
SEC rank after Keys’ flipped: No. 5
Rivals
National rank before Keys’ flipped: No. 12
National rank after Keys’ flipped: No. 9
SEC rank before Keys’ flipped: No. 6
SEC rank after Keys’ flipped: No. 5
