Tennessee freshman wide receiver Tristen “TK” Keys is the posterboy for UT’s new rebrand on Adidas’ official website on Friday. The Tennnessee newcomer is spotlighted with two pictures on the main page of the website as Adidas promotes its new UT merchandise and apparel.
Keys has been featured as one of the main players in Tennessee’s Adidas promotion this week, specifically for the new Dark Mode uniforms.
can’t run from it pic.twitter.com/xOkMqW4kIM
— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) July 9, 2026
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It’s no surprise to see Keys featured as one of the athletes involved in the Adidas reveal. While he hasn’t touched an in-game field yet as just a true freshman, Keys is an Adidas athlete. He signed an NIL deal with Adidas last June and was featured as one of the top high school prospects for the three-stripe brand.
When Keys flipped his commitment from LSU to Tennessee last August, the Adidas US Football account changed their Twitter bio to shoutout Keys and the Vols.
Keys was one of the standout prospects that Tennessee landed in the 2026 cycle after flipping him from LSU. Rivals had the Mississippi native was ranked as the No. 15 overall prospect in the class, the No. 2 wide receiver in the class, and the No. 1 player from Mississippi.
Keys was one of the most electric prospects in the 2026 cycle. His size and speed were a combination that enabled him to dominate high school competition. Now, he’s looking to bring his talents to the Big Orange.
“He’s a guy that right when you see him, you can tell he’s got a natural skill set,” Tennessee OC Joey Halzle said of Keys during the spring. “He’s got all the tangibles that you want, and he’s just like any young guy that is coming in. He’s extremely talented. He makes plays. You just gotta work the mental side of it to where we can trust him to be where we want to be, and he’s working his butt off to do it. He’s done a great job. But it’s always the young guy thing, and especially with a talented guy that you wanna see on the field.”
Tennessee returns two talented wide receivers in Braylon Staley and Mike Matthews from last year’s starting lineup. But with Chris Brazzell now gone to the NFL, there’s an opening available. With it being an outside role, there are three main options, all of which will likely get some run throughout the year even if they don’t start. This features second-year receivers Travis Smith Jr. and Radarious Jackson, and true freshman TK Keys. Both Smith and Jackson got occasional play throughout their freshmen years as four-star prospects, but battled injury.
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for more Tennessee football news with fall training camp right around the corner.
