Attention points are like calls, letters, etc. You can not assign attention points during scouting only periods .. they are assigned during recruiting periods.
As chapel said, 'after scouting only period', when the recruiting period starts, Home Visits, Campus Visits, and Scholarship offers are 'locked'. You assign attention points to a player to 'unlock' those recruiting events. You can't just say to a guy out of the blue .. come visit our school. You also can not just show up on their door step to visit .. or offer a scholarship.
You must use attention points to unlock the different recruiting efforts.