Syracuse Football: 4-star edge CJ May opts for ACC foe over 'Cuse, other finalists

CJ May from Alabama, a 2025 four-star edge and a top-150 national prospect in his class, verbally committed to fellow Atlantic Coast Conference school Louisville on Saturday afternoon over several other finalists that included Syracuse football.

The 6-foot-4, 225-pound May revealed his college decision via the 247Sports YouTube channel. His final four consisted of the Orange, the Cardinals, Washington and Auburn.

While I'm bummed that this talented rising high school senior isn't headed to the Hill, I'm wishing CJ all the best with Louisville in the ACC.

His verbal pledge to the Cardinals isn't all that surprising. Leading up to his commitment announcement, there were multiple analyst predictions in Louisville's direction for May on the 247Sports Web site, Rivals.com and the On3 Web site.

Syracuse football didn't prevail for 2025 four-star edge CJ May.

May, who attends Highland Home High School in Highland Home, Ala., took an official visit to the Orange from June 14 to June 16. That trip to Central New York went well, according to media reports and social media posts.

Right after his official visit to the 'Cuse, top 247Sports analyst Mike McAllister said in a post on X that May at that time had Syracuse football "at the top of the list" in his recruiting process. More recently, though, the buzz in his recruitment trended toward Louisville.

May took visits to all four of his finalists. He has picked up more than 20 offers in total, with Orange head coach Fran Brown and his top-flight staff offering a scholarship to May on January 21 of this year.

Previously, May was verbally committed to Notre Dame, a development that occurred last September. However, in early February of 2024, May de-committed from the Fighting Irish while reopening his recruitment.

I don't know this for certain, but it wouldn't surprise me if the 'Cuse staff continues to recruit May, even though he is now verbally pledged to Louisville. For 2025 prospects, the early signing period is in early December of this year, while the traditional signing period starts in early February of 2025.

When I wrote this article on Saturday afternoon, both the industry-generated 247Sports Composite and the industry-generated On3 Industry Ranking, within the 2025 cycle, placed May just outside the top 300 nationally in this class.

Currently, recruiting service 247Sports is the most bullish on him, ranking May at No. 146 overall, No. 17 at edge and No. 12 in Alabama.

Despite not landing a pledge from May, the Orange's 2025 class is solid. At the time of this writing, the 'Cuse had 28 verbal commitments among rising seniors, with the 247Sports Composite rating this Syracuse football cycle at No. 32 around the country.

This past Thursday night, 2025 three-star offensive lineman Jayden Mann of Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx, N.Y., verbally pledged to the Orange over other finalists Rutgers, Georgia Tech and West Virginia.

The 6-foot-4, 300-pound Mann, currently, is ranked the No. 2 prospect hailing from New York state in the 2025 class, according to ESPN.