Tennessee now in a prime spot to flip former 4-star Florida State WR commit

When it comes to college football recruiting, most of you know by now that things can change at any moment. Take the early recruitment of 2027 wide receiver Kaneilius Purdy, who was previously committed to Florida State.

However, news just came in via Rivals' John Garcia Jr. that the speedster has officially backed off his verbal pledge and opened his process back up. Purdy committed to FSU in late March, but it didn't take long for him to realize he wanted to take a look at other schools. Does the list include Tennessee football? It sure does, with Garcia reporting the Vols have been giving him a lot to think about for a little while:

Tennessee football continues to go hard after former Florida State commit Kaneilius Purdy

While Josh Heupel and his coaches are focused on keeping things hot for the 2026 class, it doesn't mean 2027 isn't also a priority off the field. Purdy is a touted prospect and he's got quite the future ahead of him, there's no doubt about that.

He's ranked four stars, the No. 15 ATH in the country and No. 310 prospect nationally for his class. In addition to Tennessee and Florida State, the touted wideout has picked up offers from Auburn, Colorado, Florida, Oklahoma, Miami, Maryland and many others.

Obviously, there's still a ton of time until Purdy signs with his college of choice, but the Vols have shown a ton of interest in him and Heupel has let him know that he's a wanted man in Knoxville. Could he end up shutting his recruitment down again soon?

That's up in the air, but the Vols are officially on the board for the '27 class with legacy linebacker JP Peace committing earlier this week. There's a huge official visit weekend on the way with '26 guys, but Purdy is now going to be a top target for the Tennessee faithful to keep a close eye on moving forward.