‘Ole Miss is trying’ – Lane Kiffin and the Rebels are reportedly ‘doing all they can’ to steal a 5-star commit from Tennessee
The Tennessee Vols will have to fend off Lane Kiffin and the Ole Miss Rebels to keep one of their top 2026 commits
Lane Kiffin and the Ole Miss Rebels are reportedly “doing all they can” to steal an elite 5-star recruit from the Tennessee Vols.
According to 247Sports’ Tom Loy, the Rebels are trying to swipe 2026 five-star wide receiver Tristen Keys from the Volunteers.
The good news for Tennessee, though, is that Keys appears to be fully committed to Tennessee.
“Ole Miss is trying — the Rebels are doing all that they can to flip him — but from all accounts, he’s a through-and-through Vol,” wrote Loy of Keys this week. “His recruitment is over, according to sources.”
It’s no surprise that Kiffin and Ole Miss want Keys in Oxford, but it sounds like their efforts to swipe him from Tennessee will be futile at best.
Tristen Keys is the No. 1 wide receiver in the 2026 recruiting class
Keys, 6-foot-3, 180 pounds from Hattiesburg, MS, is rated in 247Sports’ composite rankings as the No. 1 wide receiver in the nation and the No. 4 overall player in the 2026 recruiting class.
The Mississippi native surprisingly committed to LSU in March (even his mom was surprised), but he continued to have dialogue with Tennessee.
Keys flipped to the Vols in late August.
“Tennessee has been in this one the whole time now,” said VolQuest’s Brent Hubbs in August during an appearance on 104.5 The Zone’s Ramon and Will. “He stunned everybody and surprised everybody when he upped and committed to LSU on an unofficial visit. His mom was surprised he committed to LSU on an unofficial visit. He got caught up in the moment.
“Tennessee never stopped, and that’s where (UT WRs coach) Kelsey Pope and everybody should deserve credit. They didn’t go, ‘Okay, well, we’re done there’. And then all of a sudden there’s an Adidas deal, and ‘Oh, okay, we can get him now’ — that’s not how this worked. They got him on campus multiple times. Kelsey Pope talked with him every chance he could, every week he could have a conversation. (Vols QB commit) Faizon Brandon worked the heck out of him and recruited him. So those guys deserve credit.”
Tennessee has 24 players committed to its 2026 recruiting class, which is ranked No. 8 in the nation.
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