Four-star defensive lineman Karlos May has made his choice, and it lands with Ohio State.
The Birmingham, Alabama native committed to the Buckeyes on Saturday, closing out a recruiting fight that also included Auburn, Georgia and Florida State.
May checks in as the No. 7 defensive line prospect, the No. 2 player in Alabama and the No. 78 overall prospect in the Rivals 300 for the class of 2027. At 6-foot-2 and 330 pounds, he finished his 2025 season at Ramsay High School with 43 tackles, eight tackles for loss and four sacks. He also competes in shot put and discus for Ramsay’s track and field team.
Rivals analyst Greg Biggins described May this way in an April evaluation: "has one of the best get-offs among all interior defensive linemen and should develop into a solid pass rusher as he adds more counters to the tool kit"
For Ohio State, May is another big piece in a class that’s loading up at the line of scrimmage. He becomes the Buckeyes’ second top-10 defensive line commit, joining Marcus Fakatou, the No. 5 defensive lineman in the Rivals 300, who pledged on June 29.
The Buckeyes are also building out the edges with the No. 1 and No. 7 defensive ends in DJ Jacobs and Wyatt Smith already committed. On the offensive side, Ohio State has also landed interior linemen Kellen Wymer and Caden Moss, both top-10 prospects at their position.
Auburn may have missed on an in-state target, but the Tigers still bring the strongest defensive line group among May’s other finalists. Their class includes four-star Birmingham-area defenders Donivan Moore and Marquis Evans, plus another four-star lineman in Nate Kamba from Charlotte.
Georgia had spent plenty of energy on both May and Fakatou before each chose Ohio State. Right now, the Bulldogs’ defensive line class features top-40 commit Antwan McKoy and in-state pledge Marcellus Young Casario, though they were clearly aiming for more.
Florida State enters this one with the lightest blue-chip defensive line group of the four finalists, but it does have six blue-chip commitments overall. One of them is Sam LeJeune, the No. 25 defensive lineman in the class, and three-star defensive lineman Eric Vaulx Jr. joined the Seminoles on May 31.
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