Notre Dame football is utilizing a smart recruiting tool to lure the next great Fighting Irish star to South Bend
Notre Dame football trending quickly with five-star playmaker due to smart recruiting tactics.
With things beginning to heat up in the 2027 recruiting class for Notre Dame, there is no question that McKeesport (Pa.) High School running back Kemon Spell has become a priority target for the Fighting Irish. Even before Spell decommitted from Penn State following the James Franklin firing, the Pennsylvania star was a player the staff was pushing hard for.
The five-star visited a couple of weeks ago for the USC game, and things have only gotten better for head coach Marcus Freeman and his staff since then. Notre Dame has become the leader for Spell. If his recruitment ends in the near future, the Irish will be hard to beat.
As if that momentum wasn’t strong enough, Jeremiyah Love’s father, Jason, took to X recently to make a strong pitch to Spell. The impact of Love, a superstar running back for the Irish, has been an important one for Spell. It appears he will have an important fan if he chooses South Bend.
Even with Love and Jadarian Price most likely gone after the 2025 college football season, the future of the running back room is in a great place. The Irish staff is set to bring in Javian Osborne and Jonaz Walton in the 2026 recruiting class, two exciting talents who have an argument as top-10 running backs in the class. If Notre Dame lands Spell in 2027, then the program has the chance to create an outstanding pipeline with no end in sight.
Kemon Spell’s recruiting background
Spell is rated as at least a four-star player by each of the major recruiting platforms. On the 247 Sports Composite ranking, Spell is pegged as a five-star recruit and a top-10 player nationally. He sits as the No. 8 overall player, the No. 1 running back, and the No. 1 player in the state of Pennsylvania for the 2027 recruiting class.
Even while being previously committed to the Nittany Lions, a long list of impressive suitors had continued to pursue Spell heavily. Some of his other top offers so far include the Fighting Irish, Georgia, Ohio State, Oregon, Tennessee, Michigan, Florida State, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, and UCLA, among many others.
As a sophomore during the 2024 season, Spell put together a remarkable year for McKeesport. The 5-10, 205-pound runner managed to rush for 1,681 yards and 24 touchdowns on the year, while averaging a remarkable 10.7 yards per carry. Spell also averaged nearly 14 yards per carry as a freshman on his way to 517 yards and 12 rushing touchdowns in 2023 for the team.
Spell is putting together an even better season for McKeesport in 2025. He has had a couple of games right around 300 yards rushing and just scored six touchdowns against Mars a couple of weeks ago. This is an elite player who can score every time he touches the ball. His high rankings aren’t by accident, and Notre Dame is certainly high on everything that Spell does.
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