Elite 5-star WR makes his NIL expectations clear after canceling Alabama visit

Class of 2026 five-star wide receiver Tristen Keys is making waves in the college football recruiting world.

The Hattiesburg (Miss.) High School star held offers from Oregon, Michigan, Tennessee, USC, Alabama, Ole Miss, Georgia, Texas and plenty of other schools before committing to LSU.

Even though Keys committed to LSU in March, other programs have still been trying to convince him to flip and go elsewhere.

Recently, Keys decided to cancel a visit to Alabama, all but assuring that he is locked into LSU, and he revealed why he did so in an interview with On3's Josh Newman.

"When it comes to money and development, of course I'd take development first because we trying to get to that big money, which is NFL," Keys said. "When it comes to 700 to seven figures, and the production is there with the 700, I would take it because I want to be ready and prepared for the next level as fast as possible. So development is #1 for me, for sure."

Newman said $700,000 would be "market value," but Keys continued to express he wants to get better and develop to get to the NFL.

"I just feel like choosing development over money is a smart business decision, honestly," Keys said. "When you get on the field, make plays, more opportunities come."

Keys recently signed an NIL deal with Adidas, and his NIL valuation prior to that came in at $536,000, per On3. Moreover, Keys was expected to sign a deal somewhere in the $500,000-$1 million range, so there is a chance he gets the best of both worlds in Baton Rouge.

But Keys said time and time again that development is more important to him than a big payday, and taking less money to play more somewhere else is what seems important to the young wide receiver.