He wouldn’t be a Nittany Lion until the 2027 season, but Kemon Spell is arguably Penn State’s most prized commit. The five-star running back from McKeesport High School in Western Pennsylvania is one of the top players in the country for the 2027 class and a longtime Nittany Lion commit.
Though he’s been locked in with James Franklin’s program since August 2024, Spell has recently been on flip watch with Ohio State, Tennessee, Michigan, USC, Notre Dame, and Alabama still in the mix. However, that isn’t the reason Spell didn’t attend his scheduled Week 2 gameday visit to Happy Valley as the Nittany Lions host FIU.
Kemon Spell told me after the game that he could miss the next few games after aggravating an ankle injury on the first series of tonight’s 16-7 loss vs. Thomas Jefferson. Said he has to get fitted for a boot Saturday, putting his visit to Penn State in jeopardy. @WPIAL_Insider
— Brad Everett (@BREAL412) September 6, 2025
Kemon Spell misses Week 2 Happy Valley gameday visit after re-aggravating ankle injury
Spell has been a dominant force in the WPIAL, and began his season with a remarkable five-touchdown performance for McKeeseport. However, Spell’s Tigers fell to perennial WPIAL contender Thomas Jefferson in Week 2 on Friday night, 16-7, after Spell left the game early.
The good news for Penn State is that Spell still plans to be at Beaver Stadium for the Week 5 White Out matchup against Oregon. That is easily Penn State’s biggest home game of the season, a rematch of last year’s Big Ten Championship Game, which Oregon won 45-37.
Spell saw another big game last week, taking in No. 3 Ohio State’s victory over No. 1 Texas at Ohio Stadium. He is also planning a trip to Notre Dame for its Week 3 matchup with Texas A&M, and another to Knoxville as Tennessee hosts Oklahoma on November 1. It will be crucial for Penn State to make a good impression in Week 5 because it loses the advantage of having two opportunities with the five-star running back on campus.
Penn State is plenty deep at running back in the 2025 season, with Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen, and the talent level shouldn’t fall off a cliff after both seniors head to the NFL. In 2026, Quinton Martin, Corey Smith, and Cam Wallace will all compete for playing time, but Spell is still massively important with the potential to be a Saquon Barkley-caliber game breaker in Happy Valley.
Notre Dame is likely the biggest threat to Penn State because the Fighting Irish have the coach who originally began Spell’s recruitment, JaJuan Seider, on their staff. Marcus Freeman hired Seider away from Franklin this past offseason. Seider has been attempting to flip 2026 four-star running back commit Messiah Mickens since taking over in South Bend.