Elite PA Recruiting Target Picks SEC School Over Penn State

One of the best recruiting prospects in the country, let alone Pennsylvania, has made his commitment decision, and it isn’t to Penn State.

Per Hayes Fawcett of On3Sports, Kemon Spell has committed to Georgia, coming off a weekend visit to the school.

BREAKING: Five-Star RB Kemon Spell has Committed to Georgia, he tells me for @Rivals

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

— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) February 2, 2026

Penn State was among the finalists for Spell, who Rivals’ industry ranking has as the No. 3 overall player in the country from the Class of 2027, along with the No. 1 overall RB and the top player in the state. Spell also strongly considered Notre Dame, which just produced a Heisman finish at RB in Jeremiyah Love, Ohio State, which won the national title a little more than a year ago and Miami, which just came within a touchdown of winning this season’s national title.

We still have more than 10 months until early signing day and more than a year until the next late signing day, so things could change.

But if Spell doesn’t end up going to Penn State, this recruiting miss would sting more than most.

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It’s not often a player of Spell’s caliber comes from Pittsburgh, a place where Penn State has had plenty of recruiting success thanks largely to associate head coach Terry Smith, who comes from the area and was a longtime high school coach in the WPIAL before joining Penn State’s staff in 2014.

To add to it, Spell also grew up a Penn State fan, and committed to the program before the start of his sophomore season.

After that, his recruitment took off, and although Spell stayed firm to Penn State for more than a year, he de-committed the day James Franklin was fired.

Initially, it looked like new coach Matt Campbell and the new staff would get Spell back, with multiple national recruiting insiders predicting him to re-commit to Penn State.

But for now, that isn’t the case, and Penn State is still searching for its first Class of 2027 commit of the Campbell era.