Syracuse Football: 4-star edge, who holds 'Cuse offer, de-commits from Notre Dame

CJ May, a 2025 four-star edge from Alabama who holds a Syracuse football offer, has de-committed from Notre Dame, according to recruiting services.

The 6-foot-4, 225-pound May, a standout at the Highland Home High School in Highland Home, Ala., had verbally committed to the Fighting Irish last September.

On January 21 of this year, he said via his X page that he had received a scholarship offer from the new Orange coaching staff, led by head coach Fran Brown, who most recently was the defensive backs coach at Georgia.

Multiple recruiting Web sites, within the junior cycle, rank May as a top-300 national prospect, a top-20 edge and a top-15 player in Alabama.

Syracuse football 2025 four-star target CJ May has reopened his recruitment back up.

Per a post on X from On3 national recruiting expert Hayes Fawcett, May has picked up more than 20 scholarship offers from a range of high-major programs.

His full offer sheet, according to recruiting services, includes schools such as Arkansas, Auburn, Clemson, Duke, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Penn State, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt and West Virginia, among others.

May, as a junior for Highland Home in the most recent 2023 season, put forth some strong statistics, according to his bio on the MaxPreps Web site.

He tallied 27 solo tackles, 54 total tackles, 10 tackles for a loss, 7.5 sacks, one interception, six passes defended and two fumble recoveries.

When I wrote this article, in the 2025 class, the industry-generated On3 Industry Ranking placed May at No. 224 overall, No. 18 at edge and No. 14 in Alabama.

Over at the industry-generated 247Sports Composite, he checked in at No. 253 nationwide, No. 19 at edge and No. 15 in Alabama.

May's highest 2025 rankings, at the time of this writing, arrived via 247Sports, which rated him at No. 174 nationally, No. 20 at edge and No. 11 in Alabama.

In recent weeks, Syracuse football coaches have proven quite active on the recruiting trail as it pertains to their 2025 cycle. Orange coaches have held a couple of junior days on the Hill, doled out scholarship offers to numerous highly ranked prospects and made the list cuts of various three-star and four-star targets.

On January 27, the 'Cuse scored its first verbal pledge in the junior class. Four-star edge and top-300 national prospect Sharlandiin Strange of Cheltenham High School in Wyncote, Pa., verbally committed to Syracuse football over other finalists Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers and Southern California.