I am B- prestige D3. I sent one phone call to a D2 recruit at beginning of recruiting and got the backup message. Now I have just recieved the follow-up email saying I can now recruit him. The thing is this player is considering a human coached C prestige D2 school. Can I go for him? How much money would I need? Why would a player being recruited at D2 dropdown ever?

He's likely a lower-level D2 recruit.

The D2 coach likely has much more money. I wouldn't battle him.

However, if the D2 coach is being considered by more players than he has slots, he may not actually sign him.  I've played that waiting game before and signed the player after the D2 coach filled is roster.

So is it predetermined before recruiting begins that a player will dropdown/pull-down? I always thought that it was a function of the attention he was getting at D2.

The ability to pull/drop is predetermined.  A player has a set level of teams that are able to recruit him immediately, a set level of teams that need a drop/pull down and a set of teams that are flat out no's.

How soon they drop down is dependent on their attention, but once they drop down, that doesn't mean they will shun upper division teams.  And they can still 'drop down' while considering another team.