Tennessee lands a nice consolation prize immediately after some sour news on a five-star prospect
The Vols added a big pickup after some tough news
Sometimes in life, things have an interesting way of working out. Silver linings can pop up out of an unfortunate situation. That’s the case on Thursday afternoon for Tennessee Vol fans keeping tabs on the school’s 2026 recruiting class.
Tennessee received some unfortunate news from Rivals recruiting insider Steve Wiltfong regarding five-star offensive lineman prospect Darius Gray. Wiltfong entered a prediction that the South Carolina Gamecocks will secure his pledge when he commits on Friday. Gray, from Richmond, VA (St. Christopher’s School), is the #31 overall player, #1 IOL, and #2 player in the state of Virginia according to Rivals.
However, around the same time on Thursday, Rivals announced that four-star OT Kamari Blair has flipped his commitment from South Carolina to Tennessee.
Blair – from Clarksville, TN (Kirkwood) – is listed at 6’6″, 280 pounds and is the #274 player in the 2026 class per Rivals, as well as the #22 offensive tackle and #7 player in the state of Tennessee. He held offers from Penn State, Florida State, Wisconsin, Ole Miss, North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Kentucky, Louisville, NC State, and a number of other Power Four programs.
The pickup was notable in a couple of respects. Blair was the highest remaining uncommitted player in the 2026 class in the state of Tennessee. The top 10 in the state have all now committed, and 6 of them are heading to Knoxville next year, which is a good indication of how well Josh Heupel has done in recruiting the Volunteer State this cycle.
Tennessee also moved up in the team rankings with Blair’s pledge, leapfrogging Florida up to #12 in the Rivals team rankings for the 2026 cycle. If they can secure a flip this year from a major name, like five-star WR Tristan Keys, then perhaps a top ten final ranking is in store for Tennessee.
