With the FSS, when then note says "Some attention from ****, but he's keeping his options wide open." How much stock should I put into that?

It's a weak WOTS message.  It basically means the school has put enough effort into the kid to get considered, but not much (if any) beyond the min.  

Ok, I thought I read something like that at one point.  Thank you for the help!

Weak is a general term. It means the team has put in less than ~ 25 HVs.

Seeing that WOTS message or the ones that are similar doesn't mean that taking the player from that team will automatically be a pushover. The coach may in fact have put quite a large amount of money into the player but just not tripped the threshold, as Trentonjoe has stated. Also, many experienced coaches will hold back a good amount of cash to defend their player in the event of a takeover attempt. Do your homework before jumping on a player just because you see that message.

Posted by Trentonjoe on 7/30/2014 5:17:00 PM (view original):
Weak is a general term. It means the team has put in less than ~ 25 HVs.

The OP only has a D3 team, so 25 HVs is likely a stretch.  

I should have also mentioned the strength of the WOTS message can get stronger at the 1pm update on signing day without any extra effort put forth by the team.  This happens quite a bit when a sim is on a guy....I'm guessing it's when the early considering credit kicks in?

You don't get the tight message until about 25 HV's. The weak ones are 1-24. Doesn't mean much at D3.

At D1, is it a valid strategy to spend the extra money to get a recruit tight with you, as opposed to appearing vulnerable?

Yeah. You can also use it to try to estimate how much a team has spent.

When Colorado is "tight" with a kid 400 miles away in California, you can estimate they must have spent at least 12k on the kid: 10 CV and FSS California. That's useful if you are thinking about going after one of their other recruits.....

How do you know that the other team spent money on the FSS?  Will that message not mention them if they haven't?

Posted by jaymc2007 on 7/31/2014 2:23:00 PM (view original):
How do you know that the other team spent money on the FSS?  Will that message not mention them if they haven't?

He's assuming they wouldn't recruit the kid without seeing his potential.  That's probably true the vast majority of the time, though not 100%.

Posted by killbatman on 7/31/2014 2:54:00 PM (view original):

Posted by jaymc2007 on 7/31/2014 2:23:00 PM (view original):
How do you know that the other team spent money on the FSS?  Will that message not mention them if they haven't?

He's assuming they wouldn't recruit the kid without seeing his potential.  That's probably true the vast majority of the time, though not 100%.

I thought he might have meant that but wasn't sure!  Thanks for clearing that up!

Some people prefer to recruit without FSS.  Some people be crazy.

Posted by llamanunts on 7/31/2014 3:15:00 PM (view original):
Some people prefer to recruit without FSS.  Some people be crazy.

I used to be those some people.  Now I can't recruit without it!

Posted by jaymc2007 on 7/31/2014 3:33:00 PM (view original):

Posted by llamanunts on 7/31/2014 3:15:00 PM (view original):
Some people prefer to recruit without FSS.  Some people be crazy.

I used to be those some people.  Now I can't recruit without it!

you never really could - no one can. you can gamble though...