2025 DE CJ May (6-4 225) of Highland Home, AL is one of the top targets for Clemson and USC in the 2025 recruiting class. Both are on board with him with an offer. Both had him on campus earlier this year, and both will have him back on campus for a game this season.
May first visited Clemson on April 1st when he and head coach Dabo Swinney, defensive line coach Nick Eason and defensive ends coach Lemanski Hall started to get to know one another. They wanted to see him in camp before offering, and he obliged them in June. The Tigers, in turn, made him an offer after seeing him in action up close.
“My thing with Clemson is Clemson has always been big on family,” May said. “As a recruit trying to get love in that relationship with coaches, family is always going to play a big part. That staff they have, Coach Ski, Coach Eason and Coach Dabo, that whole staff supports that family word strong.”
May said he hears a lot from Hall and the two have really hit it off. He said Hall sees things in him as a player that would do well in the Clemson defensive scheme. Last season May recorded 50 tackles with 10 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks.
“What Coach Ski preaches to me about, he tells me that I have a rare skill set that he loves,” May said. “A lot of players play defensive end, but you have certain players that have certain technique. Coach Ski just loves my way of style I play football. Obviously, run stop is a big thing for defensive end. It’s not all about pass rush, but my primary and strongest feature is my pass rush.”
May visited USC unofficially March 31st, the day before he visited Clemson. It was right before his visit to USC that May got a call from defensive ends coach Sterling Lucas. Those two hit it off immediately.
“I love Coach Lucas to death,” May said. “He’s a down to Earth guy. We built a relationship off of our first interaction. I was in school one day and coach called me to the field house, and I got on the phone with Coach Lucas, and he let me know he wanted to offer me. That stood out to me and made me want to go visit campus. Where they are at, it’s very pretty. It’s a very pretty campus and very pretty all around. I just love the staff they have. Coach Beamer is also a great guy. I just love that staff in general.”
May added that Lucas sees the same talent and potential in him as his counterpart at Clemson.
“He just sees how explosive I am off the edge,” May said. “He also thinks my skillset that Coach Ski thinks about me stands out most to him. Younger coaches relate better with younger guys I guess you could say, and me and Coach Lucas always just had a stronger bond.”
May plans to take several game visits this season. He was at Vanderbilt last weekend. He will go to Ohio State at Notre Dame September 23rd, USC at Tennessee September 30th, Notre Dame at Louisville October 7th, Florida at USC October 14th, Notre Dame at Clemson November 4th, Ole Miss at Georgia November 11th and Alabama at Auburn November 25th.
May recently named a short list of Clemson, USC, Auburn, Notre Dame, Tennessee, Troy, Miami, Georgia, Ole Miss and Louisville.
