Who said keeping a player committed is hard in today’s NIL and transfer portal era? Just ask Georgia’s 2027 five-star RB commit from McKeesport, who is shutting the door on teams trying to flip him. Now, that’s a major setback for Ryan Day and his team, which was waiting for an opportunity.

Kemon Spell is canceling all his official visits during June and will be in Athens every week helping Kirby Smart and his team during the recruiting period. Now, that ends the hope for Ryan Day’s Ohio State, Notre Dame, Michigan, USC, and Alabama, who were eyeing him since the start. However, their momentum felt real when Spell himself mentioned how these teams could flip him from initial commitment to Penn State.

Ryan Day and his team had hosted him on campus during their game against Penn State. He was then planning to take more visits to the program, but ultimately, Georgia stepped in and secured his commitment.

For many high school recruits, money is the driving force, but for Kemon Spell, that’s not the case.

“I’ve seen the comments,” Spell said. “I know what some are thinking. But I don’t react to them. That’s just not my place. I have three checklist boxes that I go by with every school I go to; I want to be coached hard. I want to be treated like family, and the money is last for me.”

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Ohio State has nine commits so far in their 2027 class, but Spell’s commitment held more value as there’s still no running back commit on the team. That’s exactly why hosting him was a great chance for Day and his team to lure him away.

And his production backs up the hype, too. Back in 2024, he carried the ball 157 times for 1,681 yards and 24 touchdowns. He played defense for the McKeesport team, helping them to go 8-5. In 2023, he rushed for 517 yards on 37 carries with 12 touchdowns as a freshman.

For Spell, it was his relationship with Georgia that worked in their favor, as well as Kirby Smart and his team’s culture that stood out.

“I sat down and actually saw what Georgia is,” Spell said. “It felt like home. I was being loved every time I went there.”

Now, Spell’s bold move gives Kirby Smart and his team major relief after losing QB Jared Curtis to Vanderbilt. Something similar happened with him, too. Vandy started pushing for Curtis in October, and then after that, they hosted him during their Missouri game, and later on, the home ground factor and Diego Pavia’s development made their case, and Kirby Smart lost his key QB.

But Spell isn’t keeping any door open for that to happen. On one hand, Ryan Day may have lost a key target, but on the other, he is building a strong wide receiver room.

Ryan Day’s wide receiver room looks promising

Ohio State lost Carnell Tate, a projected first-rounder, and saw many players like Quincy Porter and Mylan Graham enter the portal. On top of that, their offense took a major hit after Brian Hartline left them to lead the South Florida Bulls. However, with all the chaos, they do make a strong receiving corps entering the 2026 season.

Their star receivers, Jeremiah Smith and Brandon Inniss, are starting this season alongside major portal additions like Kyle Parker and Devin McCuin. The Buckeyes got Phillip Bell and De’Zie Jones for the second year.

Let’s not forget that even their 2026 class has elite additions like the No. 1 WR in the nation, Chris Henry Jr., and the No. 6 WR in the nation, Jerquaden Guilford. With that level of talent, Ryan Day already has his plan ready for them.

“Well, I think when you play with three receivers in the game, it’s gonna get harder and harder to have (a lot of elite depth),” Day said. “Remember, we used to have five first-rounders in that room, but you have to figure out where you wanna invest your resources these days. But we wanna play with three wide receivers in the game as many times as we can and mix in the tight ends.”

NIL and the portal did make things tough for him. Yet, Ohio State assembled a strong receiving corps despite all the shakeups, and it seems they might even reclaim their championship glory this year.