Suppose you have a recruit that is yellow but has said he prefers someone else. Now, suppose you are out of cash. Now, finally, suppose that you are quite certain that the human coach didn't offer a scholarship since he was green for that team after the signing period began.

After all that supposing, what would happen on the last cycle? Would he figure out the other coach wasn't going to offer and sign with my team? Or would he just be lost to the ages?

There's an informative thread about this exact issue on the boards here somewhere.  But in a nutshell, there is no guarantee he'll sign with your squad if the other coach DOES NOT fill all his scholarships prior to the last cycle.  IF the other coach fills his scholarships then the recruit WILL sign with you as long as you have at least one face to face visit with him during your recruiting effort AND no one else comes in at the last cycle to catch his interest.