The nation's No. 1 running back in the 2027 class will visit Syracuse football on Halloween, but another suitor of his is receiving analyst buzz these days.
Five-star prospect Kemon Spell from the Pittsburgh area is expected to be on the Hill for the Orange's home game against North Carolina on Friday, Oct. 31, a source confirmed to me last week.
That's the good news. The bad news is that football powerhouse Notre Dame has at least three predictions in its favor for Spell between 247Sports and Rivals. Ugh. That's not a great sign for Syracuse football's chances, although things can ebb and flow in a prospect's recruitment.
Five-star RB Kemon Spell is favoring Notre Dame after decommitting from Penn State and visiting South Bend ‼️
— BlueandGold.com (@BGInews) October 21, 2025
“I’m leaning toward Notre Dame a lot...And I can’t wait to get back up there again.” ☘️@ByKyleKelly's story: https://t.co/spSjqySjAe pic.twitter.com/TbLLThJhRP
Syracuse football faces fierce competition to prevail for 5-star RB Kemon Spell.
The 5-foot-10, 210-pound Spell is the consensus No. 1 running back in the 2027 class. He's also a top-10 national prospect, according to most recruiting Web sites.
In the wake of Penn State head coach James Franklin being fired not too long ago, Spell was among various Nittany Lions' verbal pledges to de-commit and reopen their recruitments.
The 'Cuse coaching staff offered a scholarship to Spell in May of last year. He holds nearly 20 scholarship offers from teams including Ole Miss, Nebraska, Florida State, Georgia, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oregon, Pittsburgh and Tennessee, among others.
Spell is a standout junior at McKeesport Area Senior High School in McKeesport, Pa. Ahead of the 2025 campaign, MaxPreps named him a preseason junior first-team All-American. As a sophomore in 2024, Spell rushed 157 times for 1,681 yards and 24 touchdowns. In 2023, as a freshman, Spell carried the ball 37 times for 517 yards and 12 touchdowns.
The Orange's 2027 class features six verbal commits. It is No. 3 nationally, according to the industry-generated 247Sports Composite. The industry-generated Rivals Industry Ranking places Syracuse football's 2027 cycle at No. 14 overall.
'Cuse 2027 commit Tristin Hughes of Rocky River High School in Rocky River, Ohio, a defensive back/wide receiver/running back, moved to four stars and No. 296 around the country when Rivals this week updated its national rankings for the high school junior class.
Syracuse football head coach Fran Brown and his top-flight staff are also heavily involved with a range of other highly ranked 2027 prospects.