"You can see who is in the lead by clicking on the recruit and seeing whose name is on top.  This is more reliable than anything the recruit might tell you. but it isn't automatic."

The preceding is absolutely *not* the case and is mentioned as such by WIS in the help page. I believe the only way to gauge who is in the lead is via a an email from the recruit that states his preference - the listing of the schools on the player card is strictly random and will change from page refresh to page refresh.

Posted by greppinfool on 1/25/2015 12:27:00 AM (view original):
Probably the recruit appeared yellow to both players.  Offering a scholly helps a little bit, but it is not a deal breaker, nor is it a deal maker.  In my (often unfortunate!) experience, the stoplights provide a guide to whether you can hope to get a recruit:

Red - never, ever
Yellow - Rarely against a SIM (10% chance), more often against a human (50/50)
Green - Good to go

A green recruit will sign with you as soon as he can.  A red recruit won't automatically reject you, but he has to be yellow with somebody else in order for him not to sign elsewhere.  You can see who is in the lead by clicking on the recruit and seeing whose name is on top.  This is more reliable than anything the recruit might tell you. but it isn't automatic.  You can be winning and still lose, or you can be losing and still win.  If you're not on top with a yellow recruit, then you've got some work to do!

There was a sitemail from someone a while back during the last updaete (maybe jtwhiz, maybe vick12?) where they were refreshing their page constantly during the turn cycle. He had a yellow recruit that turned green, then when he refreshed the recruit signed, all in the same cycle. From that I infer that you have to get him green to sign him. You might do that by generating more interest, or the other coach could offer his last scholarship and you win by default, but you always have to get him green to sign him.
Also, as a coach who USED to cut recruits fairly frequently, I believe that reputation is a huge boost to recruiting. I never want to fight someone if I don't have an advantage, and the list of advantages is 1) reputation, 2) cash (# of scholarships, playoff cash, and cost differences due to distance) and 3) prestige(wins, CCs, NCs). cman's post just reinforces that belief.

Prestige = Loyalty?

I think Prestige is a more esoteric concept; an amalgam of what scrodz wrote above: wins, conference championships, national championships. Reputation and Loyalty each have their own unique identifier.

Posted by realist9900 on 1/25/2015 7:10:00 PM (view original):
Prestige = Loyalty?

Prestige = Number of wins, CCs, playoff appearances (the deeper, the better), and NCs.  The more of these your school has in the recent past, the easier it is to recruit a player.

A couple of things... first, efforts earlier in recruiting count more, not the other way around. The gap necessary to pick school A over school B and actually sign shrinks over time. Second, I think you aren't giving nearly enough weight to prestige (WIS hasn't ever defined it explicitly,but think of it as an accumulation of points via total wins, playoff success, conference titles, national titles, etc.).

helgi are you talking Prestige for a school or for a coach?

Prestige for a school. But loyalty and some version of prestige for a school also come into play.

Posted by hypnotoad on 1/25/2015 7:30:00 AM (view original):
"You can see who is in the lead by clicking on the recruit and seeing whose name is on top.  This is more reliable than anything the recruit might tell you. but it isn't automatic."

The preceding is absolutely *not* the case and is mentioned as such by WIS in the help page. I believe the only way to gauge who is in the lead is via a an email from the recruit that states his preference - the listing of the schools on the player card is strictly random and will change from page refresh to page refresh.

That is not true they rotate the top team as far as I've seen cause sometimes...  I just checked when I looked at history they changed positions

They rotate randomly. Their order is meaningless. Trust me.

What are you guys talking about "he didn't re-offer a scholarship"  ?   Unless withdrawn, a scholarship offer is only accepted / rejected when the payer signs.  It's not like a guaranteed start or playing time.

On a side note, it appears the losing team in this battle won the National Title. Congrats.