He's ranked the No. 1 running back in the country for the 2027 class and at one point it seemed like all signs were pointing to Kemon Spell taking his talents to South Bend. Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame were putting in serious work to land him.
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It got to the point where Rivals' Steve Wiltfong put an October prediction in the books for Notre Dame to land the electric playmaker. Not long after that, though, Georgia was the new favorite. Then, Penn State looked to be in the lead. Everything seemed up in the air.
However, Spell has once again decided to shut down his recruitment, this time giving Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs the news that they've been hoping for. That's right, fresh off his unofficial visit to Athens this past week, Spell has committed to the SEC powerhouse:
BREAKING: Five-Star RB Kemon Spell has Committed to Georgia, he tells me for @Rivals
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) February 2, 2026
The 5’10 210 RB from McKeesport, PA chose the Bulldogs over Penn State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Miami
He’s the No. 1 RB in the 2027 Class on all websiteshttps://t.co/bSeLYeRfyb pic.twitter.com/bCmGmUUdGE
5-star Kemon Spell commits to Georgia over Notre Dame and others
On one hand, it shouldn't come as a major shock that Spell won't be suiting up for Freeman at the next level. If anything, the Penn State faithful should be the ones who are most upset about Spell deciding that he's off to SEC country.
Spell is a McKeesport, Penn. product and with him being an in-state target, Matt Campbell was going all-in to land him. However, Smart got him to campus for one last visit that changed everything. Notre Dame fans are disappointed, sure, but they probably saw the writing on the wall for this recruiting battle.
Despite missing out on Spell, a one-time Penn State commit too, that doesn't mean things are looking gloomy for Freeman and his '27 recruiting efforts. As of this writing, there are seven known pledges on board, with that class ranked No. 4 by 247Sports.
There's no running back with a seat at the table just yet, but Freeman surely has some backup plans for other RBs high on his board. So, yes, seeing Spell commit elsewhere might sting a little bit, but now is not the time to doubt Freeman and what he's doing. Notre Dame will shift its focus elsewhere and ND supporters will likely forget about this soon enough.