Tennessee football has reeled in one of the biggest fish left in the pond of the 2025 class.

Four-star wide receiver Travis Smith Jr. has picked the Vols over SEC squads Alabama, Georgia and Auburn.

He is the third wide receiver commit of the class, joining Radarious Jackson and Joakim Dodson.

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Smith is coming off a recent official visit to Knoxville. He was in town in late June and didn't just spend time on the football aspect of things. He also felt the family culture Josh Heupel is building.

"My best official visit, personally, was Tennessee," Smith told Sam Spieglman of Rivals.com during Rivals Five-Star. "Bringing us out to the river, tubing, having those comfortable visits. It was great."

Heupel likes what he sees out of Smith as a prospect to play in his offense. His mix of speed, athleticism and sure hands make him a great candidate to breakout in the Vols' fast-paced offense.

This has been the message to him for a while and its stayed consistent throughout the process.

"They want to utilize me anywhere on the field creating space and they let me know consistently they want me, and they need me. I felt like a priority down there," Smith told Spieglman. "Everything they have been talking about on the phone since back in-season, they've consistently shown it. They really showed out for the official visit, it was crazy."

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Smith is now the 17th commit of the 2025 class for Tennessee. He is the ninth four-star prospect with a five-star in the group, as well.

On Rivals.com, his 5.9 rating ties him with DE Mariyon Dye for the fourth-highest-rated commit of the class. Five-star offensive lineman Douglas Utu and four-star quarterback George MacIntyre are the only ones with a higher rating.

Tennessee owned a class just outside the top 10 going into the day but are in position to make a run to land within the top 10. Multiple big time targets are still on the board such as David Sanders Jr. who is making his announcement in early August.

This is now the second year in a row that the Vols have been able to pull one of the elite pass catchers from Georgia.

Last year, Tennessee was able to pluck the states No. 1 wide reciever in former five-star Mike Matthews. This year, it's the state's No. 2 WR by landing Smith.

The Vols and the Bulldogs are battling for a few common priorities coming down the next stretch of a month and a half. Even with the coming announcements, the battles will more than likely continue throughout the fall until early signing day.

Just last month at the Rivals Five-Star down in Jacksonville, VolReport had the pleasure of speaking with the new Vol commit. A few things stood out about Tennessee that may have had a big hand in this decision.

One reason, his class teammate George MacIntyre. The in-state No. 1 player impressed the talented wide-out at a summer event.

"When I went to the event at On3, George and I chopped it up a lot," Smith said. "The fact that he held a conversation with me and my mom, that really brightened my eyes to what a great person he was and he's a cool dude. My mom got good vibes from him, and I did as well. That was probably the first time I met him. We've had previous encounters playing AAU basketball, but nothing like that, as far as chilling and really talking."

The message that George is bringing is doubling back to the staff and echoing their pitch.

"Pretty much what everyone on the staff has been telling me," Smith said. "I'm wanted, needed, they like what they're seeing, and they believe I have a chance to be one of the greats."

On top of knowing the plan in store for him at UT, having his class quarterback making a huge impression, knowing that he will get developed as recent years have shown for former Vol wide receivers in the NFL. Then there is the genuineness of the staff.

"The family environment," Smith said. "Great history. You know, I didn't realize how many guys they had in Vol history that ended up doing very well in the NFL, and just being great people in general."

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