One of the biggest recruiting wins of Kirby Smart this offseason was landing Kemon Spell’s commitment for Georgia’s 2027 class. The five-star RB is already seen as a cornerstone of the Bulldogs’ future. While most top running backs have a highlight reel, for Kemon Spell, his entire future was foreshadowed by a single speed sweep as a freshman that his own coach still can’t forget.

“We don’t usually play freshmen up here,” Spell’s high school coach, Matt Miller, told Dawg Nation on February 21. “But he gets in the game. We’re planning on playing him at defense as a backup safety. We get him in about the second quarter, and we say, ‘Just give him a quick speed sweep.’ I’d never seen anyone run that fast. And he goes around the bend, goes about 35 yards, and goes out of bounds. 

When he comes back, we’re like, ‘Give it to him again.’ Next thing, it’s down on the five-yard line. He came out, and I looked at him, and I said, ‘Where was his speed at?’ And he goes, ‘I only run as fast as I need to.’ I’d never seen fifth gear that fast before, but it’s definitely one of my more memorable moments with Kemon.”

That ‘fifth gear’ Miller witnessed wasn’t just for the football field; it was honed on the track, where Spell has posted impressive times of 10.99 in the 100-meter and 22.98 in the 200-meter record as a 10th-grader. 

Spell’s development has been meteoric. After a solid freshman campaign with 517 yards and twelve touchdowns, he exploded as a sophomore, nearly tripling his output to 1,681 yards and 24 scores. His dominance was on full display in the playoffs with back-to-back games of over 270 rushing yards, cementing his status as an elite prospect.

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His production had a big boost this past season, where he recorded 1,755 rushing yards for 28 touchdowns in eight games. This helped McKeesport reach the WPIAL Class 4A championship game and earned him a MaxPreps Junior All-American honor.

“Watching him run is a thing of beauty,” Miller added. “You sit in practice every once in a while, and you try not to ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ like the kids do. But you’re like, ‘Wow, that was impressive.’ And he does a lot of that, probably a couple times a practice.”

Spell is a rising senior for McKeesport heading into the 2026 season. With the 5-foot-11 already turning national attention, Kirby Smart will be looking to keep his top prospect protected from other schools.

Kemon Spell’s commitment to Georgia

Kemon Spell, the five-star prospect of the 2027 class, initially committed to Penn State before James Franklin was fired. Franklin’s departure reopened his recruitment in October 2025, and the Bulldogs offered him before his decommitment.

Penn State was still projected as the favorite to land Spell, being the No. 1 RB nationally and the top overall prospect from the state of Pennsylvania. However, Smart and staff invited him to the Junior Day and secured a commitment from the five-star prospect.

“It’s a great school, a great program,” Spell told DawgsHQ. “They’re great at football. As soon as I got the offer, they showed me love right off the rip. That’s something I always look for when I go places.”

Spell is by far the first five-star RB of Georgia since Zamir White from the 2018 class. With Spell joining the room, there are two running backs in the Bulldogs’ 2027 class, with Noah Parker having committed in November.