Matt Campbell has never landed a five-star recruit. Over his 10 years at Iowa State, he hardly swam in the four-star recruiting waters. That lack of top-flight recruiting experience was one of the biggest reasons that Campbell’s detractors doubted he would ever take Penn State over the top after replacing James Franklin.
Well, just over a month into his tenure, he’s already on the verge of proving his biggest doubters wrong. This weekend, Penn State is set to host 5-star running back Kemon Spell for a visit, and with most recruiting experts predicting a commitment on the way, Campbell will have his 2027 recruiting class off to a blistering start.
Penn State predicted to land Kemon Spell as 1st 2027 commit
Spell originally committed to Franklin in 2024. However, the McKeesport product backed away from the Nittany Lions after their early-season loss to Oregon and de-committed amid Franklin’s midseason firing.
The No. 7 player in the country and the No. 1 running back, Spell headlines a loaded group of in-state recruits that present Campbell with the opportunity to assemble one of the greatest recruiting classes in program history. That is, if he and his general manager, Derek Hoodjer, can prove themselves as elite recruiters.
Iowa State simply didn’t have the resources or history to battle for the best recruits in the country. So, Campbell had to do more with less. He led the Cyclones to five eight-win seasons with almost exclusively three-stars and an 11-win campaign in 2024.
Over that time, he developed a reputation as one of the best developers of talent in the country, so if he can pair that with four and five-star recruits at Penn State, he could reach a new ceiling in the Big Ten. That was the hope for Penn State when athletic director Pat Kraft hired him in December, and the early returns are looking very promising as Campbell builds momentum with Spell.
Spell is one of five in-state recruits in the 247Sports Composite top 100. All five remain uncommitted with Spell and four-star wide receiver Khalil Taylor, another former Franklin commit, both predicted to land back with the Nittany Lions. Five-star offensive tackle Maxwell Hiller is the No. 10 player in the class, four-star wide receiver Matthew Gregory ranks No. 64, Taylor is 65th, and four-star EDGE Abraham Sesay is No. 80.
It’s unrealistic to expect Campbell to land all five of those players for his 2027 class, but if he can secure a majority of the top talent in Pennsylvania, it could vault the Nittany Lions back to the top of the Big Ten, where they belong.