Karlos May’s recruitment was a three-team pendulum before Ohio State pulled it to a stop.
The four-star defensive lineman from Ramsay High School in Birmingham, Alabama, announced his commitment to the Buckeyes on July 18, choosing them over Auburn, Georgia, and Florida State. May told Rivals he was leaning toward Auburn early in the spring, then Georgia seized the lead, and then an official visit to Columbus in June flipped everything.
“That official visit to Ohio State changed everything,” May said. “Before that, I was going to Georgia. That visit made me realize exactly where I wanted to be.”
He knew by the second day. “I woke up that Sunday morning and just felt like, ‘Man, yeah, this is home.'”
The 6-foot-3, 305-pound interior lineman is the No. 135 prospect and No. 15 defensive lineman in the 247Sports Composite rankings, and No. 78 in the Rivals300. His 247Sports scouting report — evaluated in June 2026 — projects him as a multi-year starter at the Power Four level with Day 3 NFL Draft potential, praising his gap-shooting quickness and functional athleticism for a player north of 300 pounds. The report also flags a technical wart: his hand activity can lag behind his desire to race through gaps, leaving him stuck on blocks when late disengagement is required.
May’s junior season stat line — 43 tackles, eight for loss, four sacks, and two interceptions across 10 games — is solid but not overwhelming for a top-150 interior prospect. He missed his entire sophomore season in 2024 with an injury, which makes his 2025 rebound and his rise in the rankings more notable. He also competes in track and field, with a shot put personal best of 50-0.25 and a discus mark of 133-4, both set during his 2026 junior campaign. The shot put number in particular underscores the raw power that evaluators like.
The deciding factor, by May’s own telling, was defensive line coach Larry Johnson — whose track record includes developing first-round picks like Chase Young, Nick Bosa, and the Bosa brothers’ predecessor Joey Bosa. Johnson’s pitch was less about football than about life.
“He wasn’t blowing me up every day, but he was sending me Bible verses every morning,” May said. “That stuck out to me because I knew he’d be a faith-driven coach. Most coaches just talked about football, but he talked about life in general.”
May becomes the fifth top-150 defensive lineman to commit to Ohio State’s 2027 class, joining a group headlined by five-stars Marcus Fakatou and DJ Jacobs, the latter ranked as the nation’s top edge rusher. May sees the collective ceiling clearly: “With the 2027 defensive line class we’ve got, I think we’ve got the chance to be the best class Coach Johnson has ever had.”
The commitment also extends a quiet but meaningful pipeline. Ohio State has now signed at least one Alabama prospect in each of its last three recruiting classes — defensive lineman Emanuel Ruffin in 2026, and running back Anthony Rogers and defensive lineman Zion Grady in 2025. Pulling a Birmingham kid away from both Auburn and Georgia, two programs with deep in-region ties, is a roster-building win that doesn’t require a spreadsheet to appreciate.
May’s projection as a Day 3 pick and his missed sophomore year mean the numbers don’t scream can’t-miss the way a five-star’s do. But the combination of verified athleticism, a proven position coach, and a recruiting class stacking top-150 linemen like cordwood gives Ohio State a developmental floor that’s hard to argue against.