Inside The Huskies

Alabama LB Passes on Huskies, Chooses Louisville

CJ May previously was committed to Notre Dame before reopenign his recruitment.

Dan Raley

Alabama recruit CJ May took a UW visit in early July.
Alabama recruit CJ May took a UW visit in early July. / UW

At the It Don't Matter Restaurant, Melody's Hair Salon and the Highland Home Baptist Church, the conversation this weekend no doubt is centered around CJ May, one of their own in this sleepy south Alabama town of 1,349 people tucked away on State Route 331.

On Saturday, the 6-foot-4, 230-pound edge rusher and 4-star recruit let the home folks know, for the second time, what his college football plans are -- that he'll be playing for Louisville after choosing the Cardinals over Auburn, Syracuse and Washington.

Attempting to give the UW a much wider recruiting footprint, the Huskies couldn't land their second oral commitment from a state of Alabama prospect for the Class of 2025 cycle, and another edge rusher at that. In late June, they received a scholarship pledge from 6-foot-5, 240-pound Caleb Smith, a 3-star recruit from Parker High School in Birmingham.

"It's a little far from home, but I'm not afraid of it," May said in his YouTube announcement through 247Sports, giving the first indication he wasn't coming.

Jedd Fisch's Huskies went 0-for-2 this weekend in losing commits to the ACC, with safety Aiden Manutai from Kahuku, Hawaii, on Friday choosing California over Arizona, Nebraska, Tennessee and Washington.

May, who likes to refer to himself as "Slim Reaper," will be heading nearly 500 miles north to the Kentucky Derby town to play his college football, this after committing and de-committing from Notre Dame this past winter.

The UW offered him in April and recently had May in for the final visit of his four-school tour and couldn't close the deal. Two months ago, Husky defensive-line coach Jason Kaufusi even found his way to Highland Home to meet with him and keep the recruiting pressure on.

May is considered such a football talent he currently holds 23 scholarship offers, with eight SEC schools among them in Georgia, Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Arkansas, South Carolina and Auburn.

For his 2A Highland Home High team, May finished his junior year with 54 tackles, including 10 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks, plus 6 pass break-ups, 2 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries and a pick-six interception that went for 39 yards.

Next up for the UW, holding steady at 21 commits, is the recruiting decision for 6-foot-3, 195-pound Dylan Robinson, a 4-star wide receiver/cornerback from Bonita High School in La Verne, California. Next Thursday, he'll choose from among Notre Dame, UCLA and the Huskies.

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

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Dan Raley

DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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