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Adidas celebrates 5-star wide receiver Tristen Keys' commitment to Tennessee

IMG_3593by: Grant Ramey08/28/25GrantRamey
Tristen Keys, Adidas US Football/Instagram
Tristen Keys, Adidas US Football/Instagram

Adidas celebrated Tristen Keys’ commitment to Tennessee on social media on Thursday night with a post showing the five-star wide receiver wearing an orange Adidas glove partially covering his face and captioned the post with “GBO”.

Keys, who flipped his commitment from LSU to Tennessee, is the No. 7 overall prospect and the No. 1 wide receiver in the class of 2026 according to the Rivals Industry Ranking.

He signed an endorsement deal with Adidas in June. The Vols announced a new apparel contract with Adidas earlier this month and will officially make the move from Nike on July 1, 2026. 

Vols move into top 10 in Rivals recruiting rankings after Tristen Keys commitment

Keys explained the decision to commit to Tennessee in an interview with Volquest’s Austin Price.

“I’d say the culture, the fans, the town with everybody just coming out to the game and showing mad love,” Keys said. “The support system they have because win, lose or draw, the Tennessee fans are still going to be out there cheering Go Vols at the end of the day.

“The coaching staff, great coaches, great people and great fathers. They know what they are doing and that’s one of the biggest things for me knowing that I’ll have a father figure to prepare me for the next level.”

Adding Keys helped Tennessee move up two spots in the 2026 recruiting rankings, where the Vols are now No. 9 nationally and No. 5 in the SEC with a class score of 91.60.

“We have some ambitions to build the best athletic department that college sports has ever seen”

Tennessee’s move from Nike to Adidas — the Vols spent the last 10 years with Nike after wearing Adidas from 1995 to 2014 — includes from Adidas “a new standard for investment in NIL”

“(It) will sustain UT’s powerful athletics program as the university continues competing for championships for years to come,” Chris McGuire, the vice president of sports marketing for Adidas North America, said in a press release on August 13.

Tennessee athletic director Danny White discussed the Adidas deal earlier Thursday afternoon during his appearance on The Mike Keith Show.

“We have some ambitions to build the best athletic department that college sports has ever seen,” White said. “What I saw in the leadership at Adidas is a really dynamic leadership team that kind of sees the same exact thing. And they were hungry to be our partner. 

“We see their ambitions for themselves. I think we can help them and they can help us. So I think it’s anytime you can align interests that way, that usually makes for a really strong partnership.” 

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