Notre Dame takes a massive step toward closing on a five-star difference maker who has a unique bond with the Fighting Irish
Notre Dame continues to trend in a great direction with a five-star difference maker with a unique bond.
While the 2025 college football season didn’t end the way most hoped for the Notre Dame program, the future is still very bright under head coach Marcus Freeman. A big reason for that is the impact we have seen from this Fighting Irish staff on the recruiting trail. After putting together an elite group in 2026, all eyes are now on the 2027 recruiting class, and key targets that are on the board right now.
Regardless of position, the most talented player on the board could very well be 2027 McKeesport (Pa.) High School running back Kemon Spell. Previously committed to the Penn State Nittany Lions, Spell fully opened up his recruitment once head coach James Franklin was fired. Even before that decision was made, the Irish were pursuing Spell heavily and were quickly gaining ground for the five-star athlete.
Notre Dame took a huge step toward potentially landing Spell amongst an elite group of potential suitors. The Pennsylvania native released his updated Top-Five schools list on Tuesday, and the Irish were included on it. Notre Dame was joined by Georgia, Ohio State, Miami, and USC on that list.
Spell joined Rivals recruiting analyst Hayes Fawcett for an interview about his finalists and his overall recruitment. The talented runner had a lot of great things to say about the Fighting Irish. Fawcett noted that they are battling Georgia at the top of that list for Spell. Notre Dame has a strong chance to win this one in the end, but they need to be ready to battle.
“I have a good connection with Coach (Ja’Juan) Seider, so it was a possibility I could get up there,” Spell told Fawcett. “But as soon as I got up there, it was great. It was a great environment, great coaching, great to be with Coach Freeman and meet him. We sat down and had a couple of good conversations.”
Seider is an important person to keep in mind with this recruitment. Spell was previously committed to him while he was the running backs coach with the Penn State program. That relationship could end up paying huge dividends in the end.
Kemon Spell’s recruiting background
Spell is currently ranked as at least a four-star recruit by each of the major recruiting platforms. On the 247 Sports Composite ranking, Spell is pegged as a five-star player and a Top-10 overall player nationally. He sits as the No. 7 overall player, the No. 1 running back, and the No. 1 player in the state of Pennsylvania for the 2027 recruiting class on that class ranking.
Even with that previous early commitment to the Nittany Lions, a long list of impressive programs had continued to pursue Spell heavily. Some of his top offers so far include the Fighting Irish, Georgia, Ohio State, Tennessee, Michigan, Oregon, Florida State, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, and UCLA, among several others.
Over his three years with McKeesport, Spell has been an outstanding all-around player. The 5-10, 210-pound runner has managed to rush for 3,953 yards and 68 total touchdowns. His combination of size, explosiveness, and big play ability is why so many teams have valued Spell so heavily.
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