'His mom was surprised' - Vols insider confirms suspicion about one of the biggest twists in 5-star WR Tristen Keys' recruitment

2026 five-star wide receiver Tristen Keys flipped his commitment from the LSU Tigers to the Tennessee Vols on Thursday afternoon.

For anyone who’s closely followed Keys' recruitment, his decision to flip to Tennessee wasn’t a surprise. The Vols have been a major factor for the past year, and there had been rumblings for months that a flip to Tennessee was inevitable.

The biggest surprise in Keys' recruitment actually came back in March, when he committed to LSU out of nowhere.

Numerous recruiting analysts made predictions for the Vols to land Keys shortly before he committed to LSU. When Keys committed to the Tigers, it caught everyone in the recruiting world off guard.

It also came as a surprise to Keys' mom, according to VolQuest's Brent Hubbs.

"Tennessee has been in this one the whole time now," said Hubbs Friday 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."

I can't imagine what it's like to be a high school recruit that's getting heavily courted by the top programs in the country. But I can see how it would be easy to get caught up in the moment when an SEC powerhouse is saying all the right things on an unofficial visit.

But as Hubbs noted, you've got to credit Tennessee's coaching staff for never giving up in this recruiting battle. Ultimately, those relationships -- not an NIL deal -- are the main reason that Keys decided to call Rocky Top home.